Cathedral
by MilkSapphire
Summary: The year 3000 is the year of world peace. Themyscira is allies with Earth, Krypton and Almarac New changes are coming fast at the Amazons and Diana is about to experience some very difficult changes in her life with a certain Kryptonian Prince. Can she handle the changes? Can the universe handle it? SM/WW. SciFi/Elseworlds DC.
1. Chapter 1

Cathedral -The Meeting

"Next," with a wave of Diana's hand she dismissed one male after another after they gave their spiel. Each man had to represent a unique quality of themselves as well as a skill they could serve to the Amazons. Amazonian culture is not for everyone as many have learned over the years. Men never used to be allowed on the Amazon's island, Themyscira. They were hated amongst the Themyscirans, loathed, disgusted and most of all distrusting of the males of the world. All men came from different walks of life, the Amazons knew this, but each man in their eyes was but the same.

Diana, the Princess of the Amazons, daughter of Queen Hippolyta, conceived by no man and born from not a womb, but from the earth itself. A true Amazonian, as her mother says. The most skilled of all the Amazon warriors. Skilled in art such as painting and sculpting, weaponry, martial arts, hand to hand combat, fluent in many ancient languages just to name a few, Greek, Arabic, and Latin.

Although the Amazons were once secluded on their peaceful island it was Diana who wanted to venture out and explore the rest of the world. Disobeying her mother, her queen, she had gone out into the 'real world' as she calls it. Seeing the potential the world had to offer made her think she could change this world and could only make it better. Confined by the ancient civilization of her people she was exposed to new things, new technology, other humans and most of all men. Diana had realized that not all men that her mother and sisters depicted were the beasts they talked about. Some men were kind, some poor, some rich and greedy and others were simpletons. Spending over three years in America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, Diana realized that if her people were ever to expand their minds and creativity, they would need to change.

It was revealed later to Diana that her mother, Hippolyta, had gone into the outside world before she was born and experienced some of the things she did. The only difference is that she would appear and disappear without making her mark in the world. Disguised as a modern woman she was able to fool everyone. She would bring back books from the outside world to her island for her people to be educated on modern times. The only problem was that they were only reading from books and were not exposed to anything. They were not cultured in the sense of respecting other cultures, men, women and other religions.

The Amazons had been secluded long enough and Diana had put her foot down to her mother and stood against her sisters. She wanted more for her people and suggested they come out from hiding and release their ideas, culture and wisdom to the world. After all they all live on the same planet, why shouldn't everyone unite together? The issue was that the Amazons didn't have the same technology as the rest of the world did. As Diana described it to her sisters, they lived very medieval-like and the year was 3000.

Earth had gone through several wars, politics and evil to reach what it has now. There is no government nor a president or congress. Diana had come into the world as a naive young woman. She had known nothing about any other country in the world, although she knew every single country geographically and culturally at the top of her head. The world had changed for the better a few years after she explored it and she spent most of her time in America, or as she called it, 'the land of opportunity'. America and almost every other country was run by a council. Each country that participated had a chair in the council and met once every six months for formalities and to discuss how to improve the planet economically, culturally and educationally.

Diana convinced her mother to join the council. Hippolyta had joined once she read the qualifications and laws within the council. Already she has been one of the members for almost eight years. Themyscira was changing, but changing for the good. The traditional Amazonian law was still present but with minor changes to adhere with the modern times of the world.

While Hippolyta was away in the states, Diana controlled the island and handled all the matters of her people and now guests. Diana suggested that there should be a continuing in education not just in America and other countries, but on Themyscira too. By the council, they were now considered a country. Atlantis had become a country very recently, about two years ago once Queen Mera agreed to join the world council. There were few countries that were still governed by a monarch, but the council agreed to their terms once they became members.

Themyscira offers classes on the ancients arts, languages including Themysciran, which was now considered an official language by the council. When Diana had convinced her mother to open up their island for educational purposes, she still decreed no men were allowed on the island and this tradition continued until just under two years ago. Diana suggested that men who are allowed to come on the island should not be only educated in the Amazon culture, but they needed to meet certain qualifications such as being a hard worker, kindly mannered, and have a special skill of their own. Men were also based on their intelligence, build and confidence. Although the Amazons were not keen on this idea at first they soon began to become enjoying the accommodation.

After Diana had decided who best fit to stay on the island she had a special building built just for them. They could not be in the same buildings as the women, at least the Amazons had that. Men could come from all walks of life and from all over the world, the selection was unlimited, but only about two hundred were allowed to come on the island to spend a year living there. Men were once allowed on the island many years ago, before Diana was even thought of, and before the chaos and world peace that was present in today's times. The men were not barbaric, but friendly and helpful when needed, this also included populating the island.

It only takes a few to ruin everything and the men were slaughtered and or kicked off the island. By the Greek gods, Aphrodite promised a peaceful secluded life for the Amazons. They had been living there for hundreds of years in peace until their island was recently open to the public again and allowing men to travel, well, to almost travel freely.

Once the men left the island, over half of the island's women were pregnant. This became a large problem for Queen Hippolyta, considering if the babies were male. Everyone knew this and the Amazons continued with their daily lives until they gave birth. Two thirds of the children born out of four thousand Amazons were male. Hippolyta prayed for guidance from the gods, but received no answer. She hadn't received an answer for awhile.

She couldn't just kill the babies, after all they were innocent and it was her sisters' fault for trusting the men in the first place and letting them take advantage. Instead Hippolyta decided to send the children to the underground part of Themyscira and made a home for them. Mothers were allowed to nurse their children and care for them whenever desired. After the boys reached a certain age, they were left with a few guardians and kept secret and blocked off from Themyscira by a magical force. Although underneath the island was quite nice, with special plants and food that was magically grown and had its own buildings and water that ran from up above. The mothers of the children were not allowed to see them once the barrier was blocked off. The Amazons that gave up virginity also gave up their immortality Aphrodite had bestowed upon them. Along with the young mothers passing away many years later, the boys were kept a secret from the new Amazons that populated the island. Hippolyta kept this a secret for hundreds of years and had not seen the now grown immortal men since they were infants. Not even Diana knew of them, technically they were all her brothers, but if she knew this, Hippolyta feared she would be a hypocrite.

Diana sat on their throne in a relaxed state with her leg hanging over the armrest. Phillipus, Diana's and Hippolyta's trusted friend and guard from the beginning of Hippolyta's reign as queen, stood beside the princess and smirked.

"Princess you appear as if you are bored."

As the man spoke of all his skills in front of Diana and Phillipus, she sighed. "I am quite bored. I do this almost every day for two weeks. All of these men have no redeeming qualities. Very few are skilled in hard labor to help with the renovation of the island," she paused, "next," she continued, "mother gives me the boring job while she is in America with the council."

"Every job is important princess. This man looks like a fine applicant."

"He is too short," Diana scoffed.

"Princess, height has nothing to do with choosing who is permitted to be on the island. Of all people you should know this."

Diana rolled her eyes and listened to the man go on and on about how he could play almost every instrument. She wasn't buying it at all, unless the man had the instruments in front of her how could she believe him? She straightened up on her throne and crossed one leg over the other. Her leather sandal's straps wound around her calves and her beige knee length chemise draped over her muscular yet feminine body. Her golden helmet dawned with a deer's antlers, a sign that she has killed and earned her hunt at a very young age. The bigger the antlers the better hunter you are. Her arms painted with stripes representing how many tournaments she had won in the past from seven years old until her young age of twenty seven.

She grew tired of listening to the man's babbling and put her hand up and he stopped midsentence.

"If I provide the instruments, will you play for me, sir uh..."

"Ivan."

"Sir Ivan. What say you?" Diana smiled deviously and sunk down comfortably in her large throne that was next to her mother's empty throne.

Ivan fumbled with his words but nodded, "yes...yes your majesty."

"Perfect. Phillipus bring all of the instruments in the muse hall out." Diana smiled at his fear and fidgety limbs. She grabbed a few grapes from the bowl on the table next to her.

A few Amazons brought out every instrument kept in the music room in the palace. There lay a lyre, harp, pandura, tambourine, phorminx, salpinx, pan flute, mandolin, crotala and many other instruments. Ivan stared at the ancient instruments that lay in front of him. Diana sat on her throne smiling and waiting patiently. She did enjoy these games sometimes that she played with the men.

"Do you have an oud your majesty?" Ivan asked hopeful and Diana blinked and sat up setting the grapes back into the bowl.

"It is an oud you want, yet I have brought you all of the instruments Themyscira has to offer. You told me you could play almost any instrument and so I have brought you all of them!" Her eyelids lowered and she stood slowly coming towards him. "You waste my time, Sir Ivan. Leave, now." She stared down at him as he looked up to her almost six foot frame. He slowly backed away and the guards escorted him out of the throne room.

Phillipus folded her arms as Diana sat back down. "Harsh, princess."

"I won't permit just anyone onto this island, per mother's instructions. I grow tired of listening to these men babble on and on about how special they are, when in reality they are like every other ordinary man. Over the past year I have only found fifty suitable men to live on this island."

"Indeed," Phillipus gestured for the next male to enter the room. "It is quite an honor to stay with the Amazons considering our past."

Diana lent her hand for the man to begin. She had heard over one hundred speeches easily today and it was getting harder not to tune them out as the day went on. Luckily this was the last one for today as it was nearing sundown.

"I know the sisters consider this a great honor especially after sundown in the lower quarters of Bengal village on the island." She continued to listen and Phillipus just registered what the princess had said.

A desperate hand went to Diana's shoulder, "what do you mean?"

"You're smart Phillipus, I am positive you will figure it out," she smiled, "Enough, enough. I've heard enough, you are dismissed." She shooed away the man and the large doors were closed leaving her and Phillipus alone in peace at last. She sighed and stood stretching her arms above her head.

"I am off to Bengal village, if my mother asks, I'm studying in the atrium next to the library."

As Diana disappeared flying off into the distance Phillipus' eyebrow quirked and she put her hands on her hips. "Harlots," she shook her head and left for her room.

* * *

Hippolyta arrived on Themyscira just after sundown and found the palace empty but the guards standing out of each entrance. She nodded as she passed them and she entered the throne chamber to find it empty and nobody in sight.

Archyda appeared cleaning up the far end of the chamber and she caught Hippolyta's eye.

"Archyda, where is my daughter? Is she not supposed to be analyzing the potential male students?"

"I am afraid that ended about an hour ago, your highness," Archyda continued to clean up and continued sweeping the floors of footprints.

Hippolyta nodded and thanked Archyda for her information. Walking down the long hallway out onto the bridge that connected the central palace with the east wing. She came to her dear friend, Philipus' room and knocked before entering.

"My Queen," Phillipus bowed slightly and Hippolyta sighed.

"No need for the formalities Phillipus. Where has Diana gone? I thought the evaluation would continue after I reached home."

The dark skinned Amazon didn't want to lie to the Queen, to her friend, but she respected Diana as well, but as a daughter that she never had. Hippolyta's words were more harmful than Diana's after all.

"The meeting ended early because there were not as many men coming in today. Diana went off to study for awhile," she felt her voice was a bit off and saw the Queen's eyebrow raise in suspicion.

"Study? Of course, right, because Diana studies at half past ten," she folded her arms, "I see you are not going to tell me, that is alright, I will not bother with it. I will find out sooner or later." She turned to leave and was stopped by Phillipus' words.

"Hippolyta, do you know of the Bengal Village?"

The Queen turned with steely light blue eyes and thought for a moment, "of course. They are of South Asian and Arab descent over on the southwest side of the island. Why?" After a long moment of silence Hippolyta finally understood. Diana was with them, the Bengals.

* * *

Diana had taken off her helmet and walked into the fiery lit village of Bengal. Women walked around with glasses of almond and date wine and sang songs in their native tongue. Diana knew this was the place to be after hours of hard work. The men came to Bengal village to not only mingle with the women, but to party and commit sexual acts, even with multiple women at once. Diana knew her mother would disapprove of this and especially of her being here while it all was happening. She wasn't here to get in bed with any man, but only to observe and she disguised herself in casual clothing, not royal. She wore a long gown with a shawl and gold sandals. A lot of the Amazons had no idea what Diana looked like so she knew in the Bengal village she'd have no problems fitting in.

She did have two of her childhood Amazon friends that came to the village to engage in the festivities and kept her disguise a secret from others and her mother. Diana sat down with her two friends, Mala and Eulaya smoking a water pipe filtering opium in the clay bowl. She didn't really feel the same effects as everyone else did when it came to drugs and alcohol, but she still enjoyed participating every now and then.

Mala scooted closer to Diana who was lounging on the large pillows on the floor rug. She whispered, "Hey Diana I thought you wouldn't be able to make it"

Diana looked around at all the men and women having a good time with their wine and water pipes. "The evaluation ended early and my mother had not returned so I thought I'd stop in for a little while," she smiled inhaling a large amount of smoke and exhaling slowly.

Eulaya grabbed a bottle of wine and poured some in her glass to sit next to Diana and Mala. "Have you both heard? I overheard Artemis saying that alien males might come to this island. She said the Queen has been in discussion over it for the last four months now."

Diana scoffed, "Artemis cannot even tame the wildest of horses. You shouldn't believe what that _red_ says." Red is a term Amazons use to describe ill tempered Amazons on the island. She was part of a fierce tribe on the island, the Bana Mighdalls. They lived on the east part of Themyscira.

Mala giggled, "Diana if Artemis was here she would make you eat your words."

"She cannot even best me in combat Mala, besides I am not afraid of her," Diana took a sip of the wine and coughed, "do these people put drugs in their wines as well? By the gods, that is strong," she says as she continues to drink the thick wine, "but quite tasty."

* * *

The next morning Diana awoke in her bed with a headache and her hair in a tattered mess. A knock came to her door and she weakly said, "enter" and behold, her mother came into the room fully dressed, crown and all.

"Good morning Diana!" Hippolyta said loudly and smiled at Diana's appearance and grimace.

"I am but only a few feet away from you so why are you yelling?" Diana rolled over and buried her face into her pillow.

Hippolyta leaned down and picked up Diana's shoes and clothes off the floor and neatly put them on a chair across from the princess' large bed. Next she went to the wide open window and opened the curtains and Diana groaned.

"Did you have fun last night?"

Diana shot up with anger, oh great, I cannot trust Phillipus even with the simplest task. She rolled her eyes and crossed her legs and yawned.

"I know you went to the Bengal village, Diana. And I know you were drinking and smoking Hera knows what because you reek of it." she folded her arms and frowned at her daughter laying in bed with a sheet over her nude body.

"Do I smell like sex and shame, mother?"

Hippolyta's eyebrows raised upon hearing those fowl words come out of her daughter's mouth. "I beg your pardon?" She asked in a calm cool voice.

"Sex and shame," Diana teased, "I only jest mother, I have not committed anything such as having sharing my bed with a man. Losing my perfect chaste soul. How could I do such a thing?"

Her mother threw a towel at her daughter and proceeded to exit the room. "Go bathe, we need to discuss important matters."

At breakfast Diana arrived in a fresh gown and damp hair. Her mother was already eating before she arrived. Diana grabbed an apple and took a large bite into it and smiled at her mother.

"Don't look at me like that, daughter," Hippolyta continued to eat her cheese and assorted dips with dates and bread. "you should eat more than an apple, Diana."

"I am not hungry. What are these important matters you wished to discuss, mother? I have to meet our male guests in two hours."

Hippolyta set down her bread and chewed her food slowly as she locked eyes with her daughter. She didn't remember her being such a sassy young lady. The stare was enough for Diana to back down and she continued eating.

"I wanted to tell you that the council meeting went very well yesterday. Earth has finished building the transit system to Krypton and Almarac. Our people will be able to travel to other planets other than our own now."

So the gossip that Eulaya said last night at the Bengal village was true, or at least some of it were true.

"Also since there are other planets involved the council will meet again next week to discuss potential members from Krypton and Almarac to be put on the board."

"so what does this have to do with me other than being in charge for awhile longer?" Diana reached for the knife to cut some cheese and place on her plate. She went ahead and grabbed a warm piece of bread from the basket and a few sliced tomatoes. As she was eating Hippolyta stopped.

"You will need to come with me."

Diana stopped chewing her cheese and tomato spread. "Excuse me?"

"Krypton and Almarac are monarch planets just as Themyscira. It is mandatory for all delegates to attend. Queen Mera and Arthur will be there as well."

"Who decides these rules?" Diana said setting her bread and fruit down on her plate.

"The council decides and I am part of it, as I am your mother, but your Queen as well. You are attending."

Diana said no more and both continued eating in silence.

* * *

**AN: alright, I am trying out this new story idea I have, but not sure about it yet. I wanted to write the first chapter, or rather, introduction to it. Yes, another scifi Elseworld, although not as intense as Queen of Arrakus, for those who read it.**

**I will add more detail once I get some feedback. I will still write Blind, Deaf and Mute. I love writing that story, but this idea has been bothering me for a month now.**

**I have changed some things of course like Krypton is involved as with my other stories as well. It won't be the same story as the others. You may notice that Diana is a bit of a snot. She is a different kind of Amazon in this story, a self righteous warrior, who is kind of pompous. Although she can see the good in people just like Diana would, it's in her nature. Her attitude will change over time.**


	2. Chapter 2

Mind over Matter

The following week Diana and Hippolyta traveled to the states for the annual world council only this time the Krypton and Almarac royal families were attending. Diana and Hippolyta were sent to a lavish hotel until the meeting started and had time to freshen up.

Diana clothed herself in a long green gown with a golden sash at her small waist. She donned her white cape as well. Her mother was dressed in a red floor length gown and a white cape to match her daughter. Both wore golden laurels upon their heads, looking quite regal and very much like the royal women they are.

Hours later Diana and Hippolyta made their way into the council room and were seated waiting for everyone else to arrive. It had been Diana's first time to one of the council's meetings in the eight years since Themyscira had a chair in the group. It will be the first time that other planets join the council in history. Krypton and Almarac were not close sister planets to earth, but rather distant cousins. Both planets were highly advanced and have been for many years prior to earth's new era of peace and reform.

The families from the two now neighboring planets had a longer journey than Diana and Hippolyta. They would have no time to stop in the hotel and prepare for the meeting. Any moment now and they would appear in the room. Diana hated to admit it, but she was anxious to see the aliens as the Amazons called them. She had seen earthlings, of course. She had never considered herself an earthling, only a Themysciran. Themyscira had been secluded for hundreds of years that they totally disregarded anyone outside the island until recently.

"King Jor-El and Queen Lara-El of Krypton now entering the world council," a head chairman announced and everyone stood in the room. Diana stood and saw the two walk into the room smiling and waving to everybody. They stood on the opposite side of the large room. The two Els were quite tall and in a sense had a beauty about them, they didn't look 'alien' at all, Diana thought to herself. She depicted they would look much different but in reality they looked just like her and every other human on earth. Both had dark hair, but the El woman had brown hair not jet black like her husband's and she had green eyes that complemented her fair complexion.

"Queen Maxima of Almarac entering the world council," everyone clapped and watched as the tall muscular wild red haired woman entered the room. It was only her and her guard attending. He followed her wherever she went. She made her way down the aisle and stood next to the Els.

"Queen Mera and Prince Arthur of Atlantis," both Atlantians came into the room and smiled making their way over to Diana and Hippolyta.

"Queen Hippolyta and Princess Diana of Themyscira: Home of the Amazons," the last but not least and everyone clapped. After the greetings everyone took their seats waiting for the discussion to start.

Diana sat and was shaking her left foot from the anxiety she felt just being in this room. It had been an hour since the meeting started and all they talked about was the transit system from earth to the two planets. She didn't know how her mother could sit through this for more than an hour. Thank the gods this meeting was every six months except for this occasion because of the Kryptonians and Almaracians.

After the head chairman declared that the official meeting was over he had asked if anyone had questions or statements of their own they liked to make. Hippolyta raised her hand and stood gracefully.

"On behalf of the Amazons of Themyscira, my daughter and I would like to invite the Els and Queen Maxima to our island for a celebratory feast."

Diana glanced up at her mother. Dear Hera, what is she doing?

Jor-El and Lara-El whispered to each other in Kryptonian before answering.

"We gladly accept your invite Queen Hippolyta," Lara said aloud with a gentle smile.

Queen Maxima looked at everyone in the room as they awaited for her reply. If she said no it would be a major insult to the Amazon Queen and if she said yes, she hoped it would be worth her while to come.

"I will attend your feast, _your_ _majesty_," Maxima smiled smugly and Diana frowned. So far she didn't really like this Almarac Queen at all. Her nonchalant attitude really rubbed her the wrong way.

* * *

Hippolyta and Diana grabbed their belongings and would return for Themyscira immediately as they needed to prepare for the feast for their guests. On their way home in the private jet that was flown by a fellow Amazonian.

"You invited the aliens to our island. Why?" Diana asked as she was sharpening her sword on her lap with her feet propped up on a table in front of her.

"It is the proper thing to do Diana. When we return home I want you to check on the male students and make sure they are up to date on the gathering."

Diana stopped sharpening her sword, "you wish for the men to come? Men in the palace for a party?"

"It would be strange if they did not come as they are our students and guests. The Kryptonians and the Almeraci Queen will gossip. We Amazons will show these aliens what our culture and hospitality is all about."

The following day Diana was out on the training grounds with her sisters and male guests demonstrating a sparring exercise. The sun was beating down on everyone and Diana herself was beginning to sweat from the training and hot weather.

She pinned down an Amazon with her legs and upper arms. "That is how you do it, children," she let up and lend a hand to her sister to stand. Diana stood with a long braid and a brown leotard barefooted twirling a large staff.

"Who wants to try?" She gestured to the men in the crowd that looked somewhat afraid and one stepped forward and was handed a staff by an Amazon.

"Ah my lucky opponent. Show me what you have learned, pupil," Diana smiled and readied herself in a crouching position opposite of the male. He started circling the princess and went for her head and missed. Diana was quick and she knocked him to his feet instantly with her wooden staff.

"Too slow, next," she had one the Amazons drag him off the training circle. Another man approached and without a staff. "No staff? Alright I will play too," Diana tossed her staff to the side and balled her fists up. She could feel the sweat dripping on her cheeks and she came at him punching the left side of his face and grabbing his shoulders to knee him in gut. Then she twisted his arm behind his back and he groaned at the pain.

"Do you have what it takes to be a true warrior? Do you?" Diana smiled deviously and her victory came to a halt when the male student elbowed her in the ribs and she backed up catching her breath. "Very good, show me more," she gestured him to come attack her.

He ran for her body and she grabbed him in a bear hug and flipped him over her body and landed audibly on his backside groaning at the achy pains.

"No man will best Princess Diana, warrior of Themyscira," she threw her arm in the air and all Amazons cheered at her victory. She was given a cloth to wipe her face from the sweat. "That is enough for today. Meet back here tomorrow afternoon." She walked off and into the palace so she could shower. Luckily for her she didn't have to do any evaluations today. As she treaded down the long halls she found her sisters and mother preparing for the event that was being held tonight.

Eulaya passed Diana and smiled, "Princess," she bowed, "are you ready for the festivities tonight?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, Eulaya," she waved as she made her way to her royal chambers.

* * *

The Kryptonians and the Almaraci Queen arrived promptly at seven o'clock and Diana was in her room preparing for her entrance to the royal feast hall. Almost all of the Amazons were attending and she wanted to make a grand entrance with a new golden gown she had made for her recently by the royal seamstress. Putting the final touches on her hair that was half pinned up and half down. Her dark locks tumbling down her breasts and finally she placed her tiara on her head. Her tiara had golden thorns placed on it, showing her courage and bravery as a true Amazon warrior. She smiled looking pleased with her appearance and exited her room making her way to the feast hall.

"Princess Diana of Themyscira!" The Amazons yelled and held their swords in an arc as Diana walked beneath the sword arc and everyone clapped as she entered the room. Her mother was standing with the Els talking about gods knows what.

Diana approached the Els and her mother towards the center of the room. The Els both bowed slightly and smiled at Diana's appearance.

"Your dress is lovely, princess," Jor-El commented and Diana smiled in return.

"Your mother has said so much about you. I hear you are quite the warrior of your people," Lara smiled crinkling her green eyes into crescent moons.

Diana glanced over at her mother and cleared her throat, "I am the best warrior of the Amazons. I am trained in six different combat styles and craft my own weapons from time to time as well as educate myself on languages from around the globe. Soon I will learn Kryptonian as well." With her words, she seemed to won the Els over with her charm and over confidence.

"Very fascinating. I too come from a warrior people. I am head of the Kryptonian army back home," Lara commented and Diana perked up at this. She was interested in learning new cultures, but was slightly intimidated by the El Queen. They were the same height, both equally beautiful, although she was older than her, age didn't matter to Diana.

"Perhaps we can spare if you have time to stay a bit longer," Diana smirked and Hippolyta frowned and cleared her throat."

Hippolyta smiled, "Diana, let us show the Els to their seats."

Diana nodded and looked around for the Almarac Queen and saw no sight of that unruly red hair of hers. "Where is Queen Maxima?"

"She will come later, she told Phillipus earlier."

Half way through the dinner, everyone was talking and Maxima had shown up an hour late and sat at the far end with the men at one of the tables. There were around twenty tables in the room. The Els, Hippolyta and Diana sat at one table with a few Amazons. Their table was the most quiet and Diana thought the most boring.

Diana grabbed her chalice of wine and stood on the table. Hippolyta's jaw dropped at the sight of her daughter on the dining table. Lara and Jor stared at the Amazon princess with confusion.

"Sisters!" Diana yelled and every face turned to her and she smiled, "Let us drink to our new friends, Jor and Lara-El and Queen Maxima!" Everyone cheered and grabbed their glasses to drink to Diana's announcement. Hippolyta unwillingly took her wine and drank from the golden chalice. The Els followed as everyone else. Both didn't know what to think of the Amazons, especially Diana. They seemed like nice enough people, but their culture was so foreign and less refined compared to their own.

As Diana stepped down from the table she saw her mother's glare and it wasn't easy to ignore. Diana winked at her mother and drank from her chalice.

"I am getting in the spirit of things, mother!"

"_Indeed_." Hippolyta continued to eat her food and not make eye contact with her daughter.

After the feast there was dancing outside in the palace gardens. Diana decided to leave the party and head out to the Bengal village once more. She went once a week, or at least tried to. These parties were always a major bore to her and as much as she loved meeting new people she couldn't be around her mother's glare any longer. Without saying goodbye she left. She knew she wouldn't be missed with all these people here.

Some Amazons stayed and some made their way to the Bengal village and took some men to accompany them.

Diana went unnoticed at the village as she wasn't a princess there, she was just a regular Amazonian sister there. She felt like she could let loose, more than her mother permitted, but she didn't really care what her mother thought of her devious acts she committed sometimes. She had stayed true to her word about not having relations with a man though. She could do so many wrong things in her life but that would be the ultimate sin in her and her mother's book.

* * *

The following afternoon Diana went to the training grounds to hold her annual training lessons for the Amazons and students. This time she wore a white leotard and her hair in a ponytail and was barefoot again. This lesson would be about using a sword mixed with hand to hand combat. She saw the men were stretching and some she recognized were a bit hungover from last night.

Jor and Lara sat with Hippolyta on a balcony overlooking the royal gardens. The Amazons were cleaning up the palace from last night's party. The Els would stay another day and then return back to their home planet. Queen Maxima had taken the liberty of exploring the island with a few Amazon escorts. She had no problem getting along with the male students. It seemed they were her favorite part of the entire visit. She couldn't resist good looking strong men when given the opportunity.

A jet arrived near the palace grounds and guards came forward to greet the new guest. Hippolyta informed her sisters that another Kryptonian guest would be joining them on the island after the feast. Out came the son of Jor and Lara, Kal-El. He was a spitting image of both his parents combined. His father's build, hair and eyes but with his mother's face and grace.

"This way your majesty. You parents await for you on Queen Hippolyta's balcony."

Kal smiled as the Amazons took his belongings, which were few because he'd be leaving with his parents the following day. "Thank you. Perhaps I could look around before greeting my parents?"

"Of course your highness," the Amazons left with his bags and entered the palace west wing.

He was not dressed in his royal robes but in blank pants and a long sleeved skin tight shirt. About a mile away he saw a training exercise was taking place. He walked over to watch these Amazons in action. He saw a tall woman wearing a white leotard sparring with a thin tanned male. He looked almost frightened of her. Kal saw that she dominated him easily with a simple pin to the floor.

"You need to work on strength training. Who is next?"

A man stepped forward and was a bit more muscular than the last. Kal came closer and looked behind the other males. This woman was tall, strong and fierce. He admired that in a woman and she somewhat reminded him of his mother with her fighting skills.

Diana gut punched the man and round house kicked him in the head and he fell to the ground in pain.

"Another victory for Princess Diana!" Diana shouted and all the Amazons cheered.

Everyone clapped and after everyone stopped there was one person still clapping slowly and Diana tried to locate the mocker.

"Impressive but I have seen better," Kal said with a smile.

"Show yourself!" Diana put her hands on her hips and Kal stepped forward from behind the crowd.

Diana laughed, "ah, another male. If you think you are better than me, then dance with me, male," she readied herself with her sword.

"I don't use swords," Kal calmly stated.

She smiled and gave her sword to a woman nearby. "Alright, that is fine with me."

Kal came at Diana and she was instantly knocked back by a kick to her jaw. She heard some gasps and she rubbed her jaw and shook her head. "I see." She threw her leg in the air to kick him in the leg but he grabbed her leg and she fell to the ground on her back and he flipped her body over bending her leg close to her spine. She growled. She will not be defeated, especially by a man.

Diana used her other leg and kicked him off of her and he stumbled back. Quickly she got to her feet and smiled. Kal was smiling back at her, "you are not bad."

"I am better than you!" She ran towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist attempting to pick him up and throw him, but was stopped by her ponytail being pulled and she was dragged across the ground and picked up and face planted into the dirt.

He sat on tap of her and grabbed her ponytail lifting her head off the ground. Blood dripped from her nose and she groaned at the pain from the strong impact.

"Get off of me you beast!" Diana yelled.

Kal obeyed and smiled lending a hand to help her up but Diana snubbed the offer and got off the ground covered in dirt. Kal and Diana stared at each other for an awkward silent moment. She was defeated, she didn't know how to react. She never lost. She's never lost a match and this was the first, unfortunately it was to a male. Diana huffed and turned and exited the training grounds to retreat to her room.

After besting the snobby Amazon he followed an Amazon guard to the balcony where his parents and Queen Hippolyta were still talking and enjoying the view.

"Your majesty," Kal bowed to Hippolyta and kissed the top of her hand.

Hippolyta was surprised at this young man's nice manners. She responded with a warm greeting, "Welcome, Prince Kal-El. Your parents have told me that you do work for your people and will start a company on earth."

"Yes. I am sorry I could not attend the dinner. I was on a trip in Argo back on my home planet."

* * *

Diana had changed clothes and bathed. She was irritated. She was beaten by a man, what could be more humiliating than this? She slapped herself on the cheek and slapped the other side to relieve her anger built inside her.

"Stupid man. He will pay." She stride down the hallway and went to the royal feast hall and saw her mother with the Els. She took a deep breath in and put a smile on her face.

Hippolyta saw Diana nearing them and she stood to greet her daughter.

"Diana, how are you?" Her mother asked kindly.

Diana almost responded warmly until she saw the _man_...that man that bested her. She gasped and furrowed her eyebrows.

"_YOU_!"

* * *

**AN: I had saved this chapter to see if this story was going to catch on. This shall be interesting! Also excuse the grammar from the previous chapter. Feedback please! Enjoy everybody!**


	3. Chapter 3

Losses and Wins

Kal and his parents looked at the Amazon princess with no words. Everyone out on the balcony was quiet, but the air was tense. Diana had her finger pointed at the Kryptonian man and he tried to remain calm and not to show any expression on his face.

"You are the man who beat me outside!" Diana's face had shown no forgiveness and she would make sure that his so called parents wouldn't forget it.

Lara and Jor looked at each other with concern and then turned to their son who was standing ever so silently with his arms folded. Kal didn't respond or react to Diana's rage.

"Kal, what did you do?" Lara asked resting a hand on his upper arm.

Kal shrugged his shoulders, "it is not my fault that this princess cannot take a loss gracefully."

Diana gasped, "I never lose! I am Diana, Princess of the Amazons! The best warrior on this island, and definitely much better than you'll ever be, Kryptonian!" She snarled and Hippolyta hit her daughter on the arm and Diana turned to her embarrassed Queen mother.

"You didn't quite live up to your standards did you, princess? You were easily beaten. I could take you down many times over," Kal smiled pompously and his parents furrowed their brows and frowned at the arrogance their son was presenting to the Amazons. This wasn't supposed to happen during their first visit at all. This was supposed to be a calm meeting and Queen Hippolyta had planned this feast in their honor as well as the Almaraci Queen's. It seemed like nothing was going according to plan, especially between the Kryptonian prince and Amazonian princess.

Diana's mother had always taught her to lose gracefully, but she had never lost in her life and this being the first time she was enraged. She never experienced what it was like to lose, especially to an alien, to a man. It would have been different if it were a woman, but it was only worse, considering he was male. How could he just do that to me? She thought. Her mother also taught her to save her tongue during situations like these. Diana left the balcony and stormed off outside the palace and beyond the court yard. She couldn't be around that Kryptonian family any longer. It might have been different if he were just a regular male, but he was a prince. Although she hadn't known this during the fight earlier, it was still awkward since her mother invited them here. How would they view the Amazon people now?

She contemplated actions and reactions to things. She wasn't always the most patient, but at least she tried. Diana sat down next to the river on their island. Many sisters came here to bring water back to their villages for bathing, cooking, god offerings and other necessities. She grabbed a rock and threw it in the water. Here she was able to listen to the water flowing gently and the exotic birds in the trees. Laying down on the grass she stared up at the trees and then exhaled slowly closing her eyes.

After the uncomfortable quarrel between Kal, his parents and Queen Hippolyta he decided to excuse himself from the balcony as did Diana minutes earlier. He stepped outside of the palace and saw the men and women working together. Some were training in hand to hand combat, others were learning how sculpt statues, some blacksmithing. Kal didn't have these kinds of activities back on Krypton. His planet was far different from earth and even more unlike Themyscira. Sure he had read about them, but it all seemed like a fairytale to him. These Amazons were so far behind in technology compared to his people. Scoffing at the Amazons, he almost felt bad for them. He however didn't feel bad for princess Diana.

Princess Diana was beautiful, arrogant, self righteous and _very_ strong. He hadn't met anybody like her in his life. Lara, his mother, was strong, smart and kind. Kal adored his mother and her word absolutely trumped his father's word any day. His mother was head of the Kryptonian army and she was great at her job. He would go to the training rooms with his mother when he was a boy and continued to do so. His father, Jor, on the other hand was not a fighter, he was but a scientist. It wasn't like Kal didn't like his father's job, but his mother's job was just more intriguing and more important. Jor's job was time consuming and hardly left any time for him and Kal to spend time together.

As Kal thought about the recent encounter with Diana his smile only got larger. He wanted to try and beat her again. She was an interesting one, they were more alike than she would admit, obviously. He walked amongst the Amazons and they either bowed in respect or were concentrated on their own projects and didn't respond. He admired these Amazons for sticking with their culture and wanting to keep it alive and much the same for as long as possible.

He stopped to ask a painter, "excuse me, do you know where Diana has gone?"

The Amazon rubbed her forehead as it was rather hot that day and she had been sweating. "You mean Princess Diana?" He nodded in response. "She walked past here, but I do not know where she has gone. I'm sorry."

Kal thanked the woman for her words and he continued on. Being on this planet his hearing was enhanced greatly when compared to being on Krypton. He knew this would happen as his strength would double as well. The yellow sun on earth was a great asset for him. Krypton was lit by a red sun and provided energy that a normal human would receive with their yellow sun. He very much liked this yellow sun and hoped he could stay on earth longer or more often than on his home planet.

He listened closely and heard humming in the forest up ahead. With his enhanced vision he zoomed into the forest and was able to pinpoint Diana's location. Smiling he sped over inside the forest and saw Diana laying on the grass humming a tune with her eyes closed and hands behind her head. Kal stepped on a tree branch and Diana's eyes shot open and she got up in a fighting stance.

She turned around and saw the Kryptonian standing behind a tree smirking. She rolled her eyes and relaxed her stance, but not too much.

"Oh it is you, once again! You come to my home, best me at my own training exercise, then you come disturb me in my peaceful trance." Diana shook her head and rested her hands on her large hips.

Kal couldn't help but glance over her body. Women on his planet didn't dress like she did. Well, actually, they dressed modestly compared to Diana's taste in clothing. Here she was standing in front of him practically naked. She had a burgundy dress on that was above her knees exposing her entire thigh, golden knee high laced sandals and with her hair tumbling down her back.

Diana snapped her fingers to grab the man's attention, "what's wrong with you? Haven't you ever seen a woman before?"

He stopped his gaze and put his hands behind his back. Kal didn't really have an answer for that and he saw Diana with a smug smile upon her plump coral lips. She sauntered around and came very close to Kal. He stood there silently and very stiff, I mean, _very_ stiff.

"Of course, you probably have never seen a woman like me before? Am I correct? Oh yes, I am! Because there is no woman like me on my island, my planet, yours or any other planet for that matter."

"You think very highly of yourself princess," he spoke steadily and watched her and she circled him with a smug smile.

"I am the best of the best of my people. I am..."

He interrupted her tirade, "the best warrior. We all know. If you are the best, then how come it is _I_ who beat you earlier today?" He had a smug smile of his own to show now.

Diana ignored this statement, "are you not supposed to be leaving already?"

"My parents and I are leaving tomorrow. Trying to get rid of us already? I don't think your mother would approve of such behavior from a princess, the _best_ Amazon warrior." She didn't appreciate this alien mocking her and patronizing her, using her own words against her. This man was no man she had ever met before and she definitely didn't want to befriend him either. He was too cocky for her liking. She would never lay with a man anyway and if she did she was sure her mother would do horrible, unspeakable things to the man.

She started walking off passing him by and coming out of the forest. He followed behind not long after and he was admiring her beauty from all around. It was bad enough that her face was gorgeous, it would shame all the Kryptonian women. She was also a skilled fighter and not to mention her body would rival any goddess.

"If you are to leave tomorrow, perhaps I shall show you how Amazons celebrate after hours?" Diana suggested and she turned to face him and stopped him in his tracks.

He didn't know where she was getting at but she had him intrigued. "What do you have in mind?"

Diana's smile grew wider. She was thinking Bengal village.

* * *

Once all the Amazons and male students retired for the evening, Diana had said goodnight to the Els and her mother. She was treading back to her room to change into something a little less flashy. She told Kal to meet outside the east wing of the palace after dinner. Dinner had lasted longer than usual since they had guests. She always enjoyed guests, but the Els were incredibly boring. All they talked about was war, science and technology. Not to mention they are obsessive about how they sit, eat, stand and gesture their hand movements. Diana's mother didn't seem to mind the conversation, but it was clear that she was bored. Kal seemed indifferent about it all. He looked like he didn't know how to party or even knew what a party was.

Diana flew out her window and onto the ground near the east wing. She saw Kal waiting in his usual Kryptonian clothing. Very slick, dark and..boring. She sighed as she saw him and she could tell that he was kind of nervous.

"So, where are we going?" he asked.

"To Bengal. Do you drink?" she started walking without him and he caught up easily.

His face contorted with confusion, "like water?"

"No, alcohol, wine, mead, do you know of these?"

He shook his head, "we don't have any of those beverages on Krypton."

Diana was shocked to hear this, but then again not really. "so what do you do for fun?"

"We have annual balls at my home and my cousin's home as well."

He needs to have some culture in his life, Diana thought. A side of her couldn't believe that she was taking a man with her to Bengal. She usually went alone, but she couldn't help but bring him along. After all he was quite strong, even maybe stronger than her. Yeah, right!

Two hours later Diana and Kal-El were sitting on a large rug on the dirt watching everyone conversate. Their own conversations weren't very fascinating. Diana didn't expect him to be interesting, just look at his parents. If his parents are like the rest of the Kryptonians, then she would hate to live there.

"So do you like the wine? The Bengal Amazons make their own. It's quite strong, it even gets me feeling out of my element if I have enough of it." Diana smiled.

Kal tasted the wine again, "It is quite bitter. I admire their accomplishment by making this wine, as you call it."

"Gods, can't you just enjoy something without questioning it?"

"Can't you just relax and not worry about what my opinion is?" Kal spat back at her with a taste of her own medicine. At last, the princess was at loss for words.

she stood up and splashed the burgundy wine in the alien's face. Others seemed to notice, but didn't say anything or do anything, but all kept their eye on the both of them. Diana stormed off and put her hood of her cloak over her head as she made her way out of the village.

"Excuse me, miss princess," Kal was really getting under her skin and she stopped and turned to face him. He was wiping his face off with the backside of his hand. "What did I say wrong?"

"You cannot just speak to me this way, Kryptonian!" Diana raised her chin, "I am Princess of the Amazons!"

Kal-El sighed and looked at the stern face of Diana. "On my planet it is common to be blunt. I don't know what I said wrong."

"I am royalty and..."

"As am I and you splashed wine in my face," Kal exclaimed and once again she was silent unable to convey her emotions. She didn't know what to say to him anymore. She tried to get to know him, she tried to be nice but just being around him only made her angry. Could it be that no man had ever challenged her before? If that is the case, then she didn't want any man like _him_ around her permanently that's for sure. Good thing he doesn't live here and he will go home tomorrow.

"Goodnight Kal-El," Diana turned swiftly and headed up the hill back to the palace area and he shook his head following behind her.

* * *

The next morning the Els, the two Amazons and the Almaraci Queen sat together eating breakfast. The table was quiet and Diana and Kal didn't make any eye contact whatsoever.

"The men on your island are quite resourceful, Hippolyta," Queen Maxima said with a smirk and Hippolyta glanced over as did Diana.

"Yes they can be useful sometimes."

"I can think of other ways they would be more useful," Maxima said playfully as she picked at the unusual food in front of her.

"What?" Hippolyta said and Diana stopped her mother from asking any further questions.

"Nothing, mother."

Jor looked at Diana and smiled, "So Diana, I hear that you are the person who organizes the students who come and go on your island?"

Diana looked up and stopped chewing, "yes."

"Can anyone join the program?" He was trying his best to make conversation. This was an odd group of people and his son wasn't helping especially with what happened yesterday.

Diana shook her head and began to explain the qualifications that each male student needed to have to come stay on the island. Jor and Lara looked at one another and just kept nodding their heads as Diana spoke. Kal on the other hand was less interested in the subject and kept to himself.

Lara looked over at her son, "Kal, is something the matter with you?"

"No mother, everything is just fine."

Diana looked at him and his eyes caught hers and he could feel her stare burning into his soul. He looked away and she glanced down finishing off her plate.

Kal had a clever idea and this would make the table of guests more interesting. He turned in the direction of Queen Maxima.

"Maxima, have you ever had wine before?"

Maxima smiled, "Why yes of course! Almarac has some of the finest of wines. I am sure they are much better than the Amazons' wines, no offense," she smiled over at Hippolyta and Diana. It was Diana who raised an eyebrow at this comment. She then looked over at Kal and was wondering what he was exactly up to.

"Indeed, I'll have to try that some time. Amazonian wine is quite bitter just like some people I know."

Lara questioned her son, "what are you talking about?"

"Oh the wine of course, mother. You should try it."

Diana intervened, "I think that is enough talk about wine, don't you think so, Kal-El?"

"There is never enough time to talk about wine, princess."

Queen Maxima put down her fork and knife and laced her fingers on the table. "this is getting interesting."

"Quiet you," Diana spat and everyone in the room stopped eating and all eyes were on her.

"See? Bitter." Kal smiled and Diana groaned and got up from the table and stormed out of the room.

Maxima looked around, "ooooh, catty," she cleared her plate. "Well this has been fun, but I must get going. Tell Diana that I look forward to meeting her again and I undeniably look forward to meeting you again Kal-El. Too bad we didn't spend a lot of time together. There were too many distractions!" She sighed, "perhaps next time," she smiled and walked off saucily.

Jor cleared his throat, "Perhaps we shall leave soon as well. Thank you for having us here." he smiled at Queen Hippolyta. He helped his wife out of her chair and Kal cleared his plate. He didn't like the attitude of the princess, but that was just too hard to resist.

All three stepped out of the palace and went into their quarters. Kal looked outside a large opening with only curtains covering the 'window' and saw Diana in the royal gardens pacing back and forth. He could hear her griping about him and Maxima. He smiled at this, not because she was saying horrible things about him and even some were in her own language, but the fact that he was able to get to her.

"Mother, could I come back to Themyscira? Maybe as a student one day?"

Lara quirked an eyebrow, "I don't see why not, but you will have to go through the initiation like every other male does."

Kal looked at Diana again and smiled, "That's alright with me."

"What was with the talk about wine earlier, Kal?" she asked.

* * *

**AN: and the drama continues! Not too much at once, right? Enjoy lol.**


	4. Chapter 4

The Secrets

Two weeks passed by once the Kryptonians and Queen Maxima had left Themyscira. Diana was going through the male interviews again and as usual she was highly bored. Diana sat on her throne with her legs crossed and her fist beneath her chin with a very uninterested expression. She had seen so many men today than in her lifetime. So many of them didn't have the correct qualities that the Amazons needed and she was wondering why she was even doing this in the first place.

As she dismissed yet another person she sighed greatly and Phillipus stood next to her grinning at the princess's lack of enthusiasm. Another male came in and he looked very put together and even had a black suit on and his dark hair slicked back. Diana sat up a little more interested now.

"State your name," Diana had said this so many times today, she was getting sick of hearing her redundant voice.

"Richard Grayson, ma'am," he bowed and smiled with respect.

"Tell what are your special skills, Sir Grayson."

"I am a skilled acrobat and can hack into any computer, also I can invent new devices at your command. I am also trained in several types of martial arts."

Diana nodded her head, "we do not have that kind of technology here, Sir Grayson, tell me more."

"I see with the lack of communication your island has with the rest of the world, I can install a communication system for you."

Her eyebrows raised, "perhaps that might be a grand thing to do, Sir."

"Also I can be quite handy with manual labor, but no superhuman, your majesty," he grinned and Diana smiled in return of his smart remarks.

"I like you, go with Mala over there," she pointed to Mala on her right hand side, "and wait until my interviews are complete then you can demonstrate what you say you are capable of."

"Yes ma'am," he headed over to stand next to Mala.

After the initiation Diana left the throne room with Richard Grayson with her. He was the only male she actually had an interest in so far. They went to the main square within the palace grounds and found Amazons teaching their male students all sorts of skills. Most of which was combat and manual labor. Richard watched the women and men train in hand to hand combat and grinned.

"You say you are trained in martial arts, did you not?" Diana asked as they continued to walk amongst everyone. A few bowed but most were busy.

"Yes, your highness, I am."

"Very good. I have been looking for men like you, Sir Grayson."

"Dick, you can call me Dick, ma'am," he said quietly. Diana turned to him, smiled and nodded her head.

"What made you desire to join our program, Dick?" Diana was certainly curious about this man's answer. He looked rather young, but she didn't mind that. After all, she could only be a few years older than him anyway.

He began telling her that he lives in Gotham and his father told him to come to the island to gain more experience with the foreigners of the world. He had never been outside of America and not really outside of Gotham either. Dick then explained that his father was very wealthy and it was great to put this experience on his résumé. Diana liked this young male and figured he would be a great asset to her people.

"Excellent, you may follow Mala and she will show you to your quarters." Diana began to stride off and Dick had a grand smile on his face.

"I am accepted?"

"Indeed, young Dick Grayson. You will begin immediately with some classes on Amazonian history and philosophy. The classes also include mathematics and science. Good luck and best wishes to you." She smiled and went back to the palace to find her mother.

* * *

Today was tax day on the island. Every Amazon who produced goods for the island, included fruits and vegetables, weaponry, clothing and other stuffs, had to pay a tax to the Queen. This was only one day every year and Queen Hippolyta began this tax a few years after she was crowned Queen of the Amazons.

Queen Hippolyta sat on her throne waiting for Diana before the Amazons started to file in to give their payments. Diana came into the room wearing a white short toga and golden sandals, mirroring her mother of course.

"Good afternoon mother, I hope you are well." they kissed each other's cheeks as they greeted.

"Yes, my daughter, today we will collect the taxes from our sisters. Have you found any suitable men to join our program?"

Diana grinned, "yes in fact I have mother. He is skilled in many areas and is one of them who definitely qualifies for the job. I have faith in him." Hippolyta nodded at this. She was pleased that at least one of the men was able to stay on the island.

An hour later there was an extremely long line of Amazons making their payments. Diana and Hippolyta sat side by side and their treasurer stood next to them counting the amount to make sure nobody slipped up.

As the sisters left one by one a group of the Bana Migdhall Amazons came up with no money in their hands. One of the Amazons was Artemis, a fiery red headed woman with green eyes. She could rival Diana with her swordsmanship and strength easily, but she had never beat the princess of course.

"Why have you no payment, Artemis?" Hippolyta questioned.

Artemis folded her arms, "The Bana refuse to pay your tax, Hippolyta."

The royal guard help up their spears ready to strike the red headed woman, but Hippolyta stood and held her hand up for peace. The Amazons behind her were getting impatient and groaned when the line was at a halt.

"Why have you refused to pay the tax yet again, Artemis? You know that this tax was established thousands of years ago. The price has barely increased and it is only once a year." The Amazon Queen frowned at the arrogant Artemis in front of her.

"We refuse to pay a tax to a Queen we do not support!" Artemis and the other Bana women nodded in agreement.

Diana scoffed, "you are such a red. Just pay the tax and be on your way, Artemis."

"What did you call me, _golem_?" Artemis retorted harshly back to Diana. Many of the Bana referred to Diana as golem and she was constantly reminded of it when they came around her side of the island. Just because she was born of clay does not make her any less an Amazon. Diana furrowed her eyebrows and stood up angrily.

"I am not a golem. Pay your tax...or else I will..."

Hippolyta put her arm in front of her hostile daughter, "sit down Diana, I will handle her." Diana obeyed for once and sat down in her throne, but was glaring at Artemis.

The Bana Amazons lived on a secluded part of the island and nobody that was not a Bana did not go there intentionally. If one needed to go there it was to trade items such as clothing and food but that was about it. The Bana were a fierce group of Amazons, even more harsh than the regular Themyscirans. Everyone was a Themysciran, but hardly anyone, especially Diana considered the Bana, Themysciran. They did not allow men on their side of the island and even sent mercenaries to assassinate Queen Hippolyta when she decided to open the island for the world to see and know. They were not invited to any formal functions or festivals the island held every year. They were also not invited to any Goddess feasts either and that was a huge deal to the Amazons.

Artemis was the chief of the Bana Migdhall and although she wasn't royalty, the Amazons treated her as though she were. Their style of clothing was far different than the traditional Grecian wear that the rest of the sisters donned. They were tattooed from head to toe, some even had shaved heads. Often they wore headscarves and covered their faces except their eyes. Usually they were in minimal clothing, some bearing their breasts that were pierced in exotic jewelry.

The Bana Amazons always had a hard heart against Diana and her mother because their Bana Queen was taken away from them for what they thought, was a ridiculous reason. Antiope, Hippolyta's younger sister, was their Queen and they treated her more like a goddess than royalty. She was treated better than Hippolyta would ever be treated by her Amazons.

Hippolyta and Antiope had their differences many years ago when the island was just coming to a peaceful state. Hippolyta wanted all the women to be equal and had no intention of becoming Queen until the sisters demanded by the decree of the Olympian gods that Hippolyta would indeed take the crown over her younger sister.

Antiope, outraged that her sister invited men to the island in the first place completely rejected her as family. She said that anyone who let men take advantage of the Amazons was no woman fit to be Queen. After the island was secluded from the rest of the world and mankind, no longer allowing men to enter the island or outsiders for that matter, Antiope rebelled against her elder sister. She and many other Amazons agreed with her that it was foolish of Hippolyta to have men on their island in the first place. She then formed the Bana Migdhall. Once the gods magically hide Themyscira, the remaining Amazons that were pregnant had to reap their consequences. Many of those Amazons were part of the Bana clan. Hippolyta did not banish them from the island, but allowed them to stay in good care until their children were born, they were to never see their child, if it were male, ever again.

Antiope offered to slaughter all the male babies, but Hippolyta rejected the idea, although she thought of committing the act too. She believed that the male infants were not to blame and were innocent in her and her sisters' mistakes. After all, the Amazons that were no longer chaste had their immortality taken away and were no longer alive, this angered Antiope greatly. She then said she would form her own following and become Queen and she did. She became Queen of the Bana Migdhall. After the passing of the sisters the following of Queen Antiope had grown immensely in the last four decades. Now the far south part of Themyscira consisted of more than one thousand Bana Midghall Amazons in present day. The Bana did not consider themselves Themysciran, only Bana, and they did not follow Queen Hippolyta's rules and regulations on the island.

When Queen Antiope attempted to assassinate her older sister, many of those Amazons were not put to death by Hippolyta, but they were banished and sent to exile in the outside world, never to be seen again. Hippolyta, outraged at her sister for committing such an act was banished, but not from the island, she was banished to watch over the male children, who by now were adults and immortal as the rest of the women were.

Hippolyta hated to banish her younger sister from the rest of the island, but she did not want to exile her into the outside world and have her immortality lost. Instead she declared that Antiope live with her consequences and false teachings of the ways of the gods and Amazons. The gods had granted them a peaceful life on a paradise island and Antiope violated everything and resulted to killing off Amazons and almost killing her own sister. This was the only way. The Bana now, still rejected Hippolyta for banishing their Queen, but she had no choice, otherwise what would Themyscira be now? Run by the Bana, how would they achieve anything except for death, deception and mistrust of anyone. That was not the will of the gods of Hippolyta's intentions.

Artemis stood in front of Hippolyta with a bitter taste in her mouth. She didn't just dislike the Queen, but she hated her and she hated her daughter too. She was born out of clay and to her, she wasn't a true Amazon. She was a false Amazon, a false sister.

"You despise us, Hippolyta. You took something from us that could have made this island great and instead you were chosen to be in reign." Artemis spat at the Queen.

Hippolyta frowned, "I did what needed to be done at the time. My people chose me to be their Queen, I did not choose this way of life."

Artemis laughed, "right and what of your daughter? She is not a true Amazon, she is a golem. She has not the same insides as we do. She is unable to conceive, therefore she is useless!" Her eyes darted to the princess and Diana's eyes grew in shock. Now she was truly angry at Artemis for announcing this in front of everyone.

She heard whispers from the Amazons and held their heads low not to make eye contact with the princess.

"Artemis, it is clear you do not wish to be here, so leave, before I _make_ you leave," Diana stood and was inches away from Artemis's face. The red head growled and left the palace and took her minions with her.

The taxation continued for the next two hours and now it was dark and the sun had set. Everyone retired for the evening. Diana and her mother were making sure everyone paid the same amount that was needed. Mala and Eulaya came up to Diana and smiled.

"Princess, will you be joining us at the Bengal village tonight?" Mala asked.

Diana shook her head, "sorry girls, not tonight. I will stay in my room tonight. Perhaps I need to meditate to rid myself of my own anger I have been having recently."

The two sisters smiled and walked off to join in the nightly festivities.

* * *

As Diana sat on her bed trying to meditate, it didn't seem to be helping as her mind was clouded with the conversation Artemis and her mother had earlier. She wondered why the Bana hated her mother and her so much. She wanted to ask her mother, but she figured she'd be sleeping right now. She grabbed a feather duster and waved it over the fire of the candles to blow them out. She opened her flowing curtains and flew out her bedroom window and soared over the island. Below she saw many bonfires and a lot of people gathered at the Bengal village. Over to the left of the village she saw the Tensi village and they were meditating in a large circle around a blue fire. They used special powders to throw into the fires during their trance. It supposedly helped the concentration. She had never really been to the Tensi village, but knew they were a peaceful kind of Amazons. She didn't dislike them or like them. They never seemed to bother anybody on the island.

Setting her feet down in front of the Temple of Athena she walked in and lit a few candles and put her hands in the air to pray in silence as she commanded the presence of the goddess of wisdom before her. Walking in further she knelt down praying to the goddess for answers. It seems there was so much she didn't know about her people. The Bana were so hateful and this island was created for peace and if it was created for that purpose, why were they so harsh and cruel? Diana continued to pray for an endless amount of time in her mind.

* * *

Kal was in a training room with his mother Lara, on the military base not too far outside of Kryptonopolis. He enjoyed sparring with his mother. He spent more time with her than with his father, only because they had extreme differences. While his father was always busy with science experiments he never really had an interest in that.

Over the past two weeks from leaving Themyscira he took it upon himself to learn the language of the Amazons. He enjoyed the little bit of culture he saw while he was on the island. Kal had a lot of time on his hands as a royal El he had obligations to meet such as finding a wife, but she had to be Kryptonian or at least royalty from a different planet. He knew his parents were more keen on him marrying a Kryptonian woman, but there were only two other royal families on Krypton and it wasn't like he didn't like the princesses or anything, but they were boring to him. His family often met with the royal families every year at their annual ball every year.

The Zod family was alright, but they were rather a dark family. They worked with Lara-El on the military base. Dru-Zod and his wife, Ursa, were both under Lara-El as commanders. They all often spoke about their eldest daughter marrying Kal. The Zod family had three children. The eldest was their son, Lor-Zod, the second was their daughter, Shara Si-Zod and their youngest daughter, Nazea-Zod. Nazea was only fourteen and Shara Si was twenty two, which was a few years younger than Kal. Kal had seen Shara Si before and she had green eyes and jet black hair with thick eyebrows and super pale skin. It wasn't that he didn't find her attractive, but she was incredibly hard to converse with and she would constantly bat her eyelashes, especially when surprised. He would get so distracted by her eyelashes he would forget anything she had said to him. Sometimes he even found it embarrassing to be around her because of that.

The other family was in Argo along with Kal's father's side of the family, where his elder cousin, Kara lived. The other family was Jor's favorite because they were scientists just like him and his family. Lara liked the Zod family because they were a military family. Kal was constantly at odds with both. He didn't find either family really that interesting.

The Lot family was even more boring to listen to when they came down for the annual El ball. Kal could hardly listen to them. The parents, Xai and Beliz-Lot, were very much like his father, except their entire family had red and strawberry blonde hair. Kirana was their only daughter and one year older than Kal was. She had brown eyes and red hair. Kal didn't think that she found him that great of a person and you could see it in her face every time they came down.

He stopped sparring with his mother and they swiped down with a towel and Kal smiled. "excellent training session, mother."

"You need to work on a few things before our next lesson. You are distracted somehow I can tell," she toweled off her arms and face.

She was right, he was distracted and Diana was his distraction. She was very feisty and he really liked that about her. She was different than all the Kryptonian princesses. She wasn't boring or afraid to speak what was on her mind.

"I'll try to work on it next time, mother." he was curious, "so when do you think we are able to go back to Themyscira?"

Lara stopped and raised an eyebrow, "I am not too sure. Whenever Queen Hippolyta invites us back I suppose." she looked at her son's face and smirked. "Oh I see. You are thinking of that Princess Diana are you not?"

He didn't want to admit but it was true, he couldn't stop thinking about her. He wanted to spar with her again and maybe have a more amenable conversation with her instead of what had happened last time. He half smiled and Lara nodded her head.

"Forget her, Kal. She is not Kryptonian and we cannot associate with those Amazons in the way you are thinking of."

"How do you know what I am thinking about mother? I want to spar with her again. She is the only person that really challenges me...besides you of course." He sheepishly smiled. Kal hoped that she would understand this.

Lara shook her head, "The Amazons do not trust men. In fact they very much dislike them. I hardly think it would be wise for you to go there to spar with the princess. I saw she was not too fond of you."

"That is because she is a brat," Kal laughed, "seriously though, she is, but she is quite intelligent. I could just tell by looking at her. She respects other cultures."

Lara folded her arms, "she does respect you, because you are a man, Kal."

"Maybe she does not respect me because she does not know _how_," Kal added. His mother raised her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side. She was not very keen on Kal taking an interest in the Amazon princess at all. "Perhaps I shall pay Themyscira a visit. A Kryptonian business visit, of course," he added. Lara shook her head.

"I cannot stop you, Kal. If that is what you want to do, then do so."

"Then I shall have the ship ready, I will leave within an hour. See you later, mother," he tossed the towel to the side and Lara sighed.

"Kal, wait you cannot just go unannounced, you must give warning to the Queen."

"It will be a surprise visit. Like an _inspection_," he grinned and headed back to his home to ready the ship to leave once he had cleaned up and changed clothes.

* * *

Diana had fallen asleep in the temple and she awoke to the sun just rising. Yawning she got up and saw some her sisters getting ready for the day. She flew back into her bedroom and took a long bath and changed clothes.

After an hour of pampering herself she went across the long hallway and saw her mother's door was open meaning she was still in her room. Diana peered inside and saw her mother sitting in bed reading over some scrolls.

"Good morning, mother," Diana walked in and closed the door behind her.

Hippolyta took the pen out of her mouth and smiled at her daughter. "Yes, what a grand morning it is. Come sit. It is rare that you come to my bedroom. I figured you would be teaching a sparring lesson with the students by now."

Diana shook her head and smiled softly, "not today, mother. I have a few questions to ask you," she sat on the bed and Hippolyta set the scrolls aside.

"I suppose duties can wait awhile longer. Not like anything gets done around here very quickly anyhow. What is the matter, child?"

Diana sighed before beginning, "why do the Bana hate us so? Especially Artemis. She particularly hates me and I do not know why. I have done nothing to the woman!"

Hippolyta frowned, "That is a discussion for another day, Diana."

"Why? Why cannot you not tell me why the Bana hate us? What did you do?"

"It is not what I did it is..."

...

"It is what somebody else did." Hippolyta began remembering her sister and her betrayal against her. She was still underneath the island guarding the magical gate between the soil of themyscira and the underground where the males are. She often wondered about those men, but she tried not to let it bother her.

"Who?"

"Someone not of your concern."

* * *

**AN: and it continues. Will Diana find out about her 'brothers' and Antiope? Enjoy!**


	5. Chapter 5

The Others

Kal arrived on Themyscira with absolute warning as he told his mother he would not do. As he stepped out of the ship he saw many Amazons looking very confused, but they had recognized him and bowed silently. He looked around and could tell everyone was still getting ready for the day. He had begun his day many hours ago when he was training with his mother earlier. He smiled looking at the palace about a mile ahead from where he landed. Kal figured he should make his way there and participate in this 'evaluation' to become a student on this island.

Diana left her mother's room very confused and her questions were unanswered. She felt even more angry whenever she thought of Artemis because they did not really get along from the beginning since Diana was a child. Although the Bana amazons never really were on the main part of the island, Diana had met them on several occasions and they weren't exactly friendly women. They were very unlike the other amazons that is for sure.

Diana made her way to meet more men for the evaluation. She knew there wouldn't be that much people to meet today so she felt a bit more relaxed now. She sat in her throne and sighed deeply telling the guards to open the doors.

After about four men she was growing tired of the evaluations at hand. Sending in hopefully the last few into the room Diana yawned.

Kal walked into the room and all the amazons in the room bowed instantly recognizing him just as the others did outside.

Diana sat up with wide eyes and creased brows. "You? What are you doing here Kryptonian prince?"

"I have come to be evaluated."

Everyone in the room was quiet and he was smiling, but yet serious. Diana started busting out laughing.

"Ah, you are quite humorous Kryptonian. Send in the next male please," she gestured to the guard at the door.

Kal held up his hand to the woman and turned back to Diana. "Is your program not offered to anybody and everybody? That is what I was told when I was here last."

Diana smirked, "you cannot become a student here."

He smiled, "why not? I have the best qualities you are looking for. I am better than all the male students currently on your island. Why can I not at least be evaluated like everybody else, princess?"

Diana spoke in her native tongue to all amazons in the room and they dispersed silently and quickly. She then stood and walked closer to Kal.

"What do you think you are doing?" she asked circling his body looking him up and down.

"I am simply wanting to participate in your program, princess." He stood still but could tell her eyes were all over him.

Diana stopped in front of his face and she stared into his eyes. He tried not to smile, but it was hard not to as her face was looking so serious.

"Are you trying to make a joke out of me, prince?" she asked.

he shook his head, "I would never, your highness." He was watching her every move. He saw her smile a bit and lower her eyelids.

"Did your parents put you up to this?" she put her hand on his chest and smiled.

"No, ma'am."

"I see. If you want to play this game, I shall play too," Diana left his side and sat on her throne crossing her legs. Kal looked rather confused. He had no idea what she was going to do. This was not what he intended to happen. Actually he wasn't sure what would happen anyway.

"Tell me your grand qualities, your majesty," Diana smiled taking a bite out of an apple.

He smiled and began, "well, I have super hearing, I can hear your heart beating at a faster pace right now," he continued, "I also have super speed," he sped over and took Diana's apple out of her hand and she frowned. He tossed the apple into the air and it went through the open ceiling and Diana looked up to see her apple disappear. She didn't look too impressed and folded her arms. "I also can fly," he flew up and retrieved the princess's apple and placed it back into her hand.

Kal could tell she was getting irritated and he inwardly smiled. "I also have amazing strength," he zipped over to her throne and picked her up in his arms.

"Put me down!" Diana tried to release herself and it was not doing any good. Kal set her back onto her throne and he stood a few feet away from her again.

"I also have enhanced vision and can see what you are wearing beneath your clothes." Kal didn't mean for that last part to come out of his mouth and he blushed with wide eyes. He saw Diana's mouth gape open in shock.

She covered her body with her arms, "how..._dare_ you?!" Diana stood up and he backed away a few feet. "You...you are incorrigible." Diana walked over slowly to now the nervous Kryptonian prince. "But," she paused, "your abilities are quite remarkable."

"So, what are your thoughts?" Kal asked.

Diana folded her arms, "I will have to take away points for looking through my clothes, although how could you resist?" She scoffed. "Besides that minor detail...you are accepted and I shall have to discuss this with my mother." Diana got up to leave to go to the training grounds.

"So I am accepted into your program?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes," she was grabbing her shield and sword, "oh and," she turned, "why did you come here?"

"To best you again, of course," Kal smirked and Diana lifted her chin and left the throne room. "Then be ready in two hours, I shall be ready for you, Kryptonian!" She flew out further onto the training grounds.

Kal smiled and folded his arms. He felt proud of himself for coming here. He was glad he didn't listen to his mother for once. She was right about a lot of things, but he felt the need to connect with the amazons, especially for the future of Krypton. What better way to do it than to be friends with the princess herself? He sauntered off outside the palace and could see about a mile away that Diana was giving a lesson on how to use a shield and sword properly. He, himself, did not really know how to use swords and shields as they used different weapons on his planet. Two hours, he thought. He has two hours until they meet face to face again. What to do for two hours?

* * *

Diana had finished her lesson for the day which took about a little over an hour. She drank some water and splashed some on her face to relieve her heated body. Exhaling slowly she sat down on the grass near the river where she always was continuing to drink from her vessel. After about half an hour of resting she grabbed her equipment and head back to the training grounds to meet Kal like she said she would. Hopefully he would be on time, she thought. He was arrogant sometimes, but so was she and that was not easy for her to accept.

All her life she felt entitled and above everyone else, especially men. When he came into the picture she didn't know what to think. She felt like she was a level below him in his skills and wit. As she went to the training grounds she saw he was waiting by himself looking around.

"you are on time," Diana smiled.

Kal smiled as well, "I am always on time, princess."

"Good. Follow me, we will not train here. It is too crowded," Diana had her sword sheathed and her shield on her back. She flew into the sky and he quickly followed. They had many eyes upon them and he looked down at the island. It was so unlike his home, he didn't know what to think. So many trees, water, people, an ancient-like civilization. It was like some story that a parent would read to their child. He couldn't believe a place like this actually existed.

Finally they landed on a secluded part of the island. There were no buildings or people around, not even large animals. Diana took her shield off and threw her sword over to the side.

"Let us fight once again, Kryptonian. I had it set in my heart once you returned I will best you once and for all," Diana put her hands up and smirked. She was quite confident.

Kal followed her fighting stance. She charged at him and he was able to block her easily, then she tripped him with her foot. He wasn't expecting that and he stared at her body on top of him. Her foot placed on his chest. He lay a bit dazzled and in shock. He should have seen that coming.

Getting to his feet, Diana backed away and was waiting for his attack to come next. Kal did not give her what she wanted and instead he sped over and pushed her to the ground and locked her arms behind her back. She groaned, but did not give up. She kicked his backside and threw him over her shoulder onto the ground and laid on top of him.

"You disgraced my honor, Kryptonian!" Diana spat and forced all of her weight on his body. To him she was not that heavy, but he was starting to feel like this was more than a sparring exercise.

"You take things so personal, princess," he ate dirt. "It is like...you've never lost in...your..._life_," he grabbed her ponytail and threw her into a tree and she slid down the trunk onto her back.

"I do not enjoy beating women at sparring exercises, princess." Kal folded his arms and he saw she was getting to her feet again and she was looking quite angry now.

"Nobody ever beats me, prince! I am Diana..."

"Princess of the Amazons, I know. You should have a recording of that and replay it for your people so you wouldn't sound so redundant," he joked and started laughing a little. She was not amused, he could tell.

Diana did something unexpected and flew into the air and Kal suddenly didn't know where she was, as there were too many sounds for him to focus on at once. She came out of one of the trees and threw him into the water.

She folded her arms and smiled. Kal got out of the water and frowned. "I win."

He spun around quickly to dry off and flew over to Diana only a few feet away from her face. "Why do you want to win so badly?" He asked, accepting his defeat to her now. Not like he had a choice. He figured she wouldn't stop until he was beaten up or begged for surrender.

"Because..." Diana didn't know how to answer that question. She's never been asked this before and now she didn't really have an honest answer. She unfolded her arms and set them on her hips. "I do not know."

Kal sighed, "perhaps you are just too spoiled," he smiled smugly.

She raised an eyebrow at that retort. "I am not spoiled. I work hard for my title unlike you. You are handed everything to you on a silver platter."

He laughed loudly, "is that what you think? Dear princess, you are so wrong," he shook his head and started walking into the forest.

She followed him, "Is that so? Prove it to me." She lifted into the air. "Meet me on the west wing of the palace after sunset." She flew off and left him lost in the middle of the forest.

"Rao, I don't like her," Kal lifted in the air and followed her way back to the palace area.

* * *

Diana had yet to tell her mother that the Kryptonian was here. She figured her mother would be too busy anyway. She was sitting at the dinner table with her mother and she saw that the sun was now setting. Clearing her plate quickly she got up to leave until her mother caught her arm.

"Why are you in such a hurry, Diana?"

"I want to finish my studies. I have not yet gotten to it today. I had quite a long day," Diana smiled.

"A long day? You?" Hippolyta scoffed, "whatever you are up to I do not want to know," she continued to eat her food and Diana snuck out of the dining room and to the west wing of the palace where her quarters were.

* * *

Kal was at the west wing, at least that is what his directions in his mind were telling him. He remembered the palace very well. It was not a very difficult structure at all. He was waiting patiently and it was now dark outside. Suddenly he saw a shadow and looked closer and it was Diana dressed in a cloak.

"You made it. I was afraid you would not attend," Diana smirked and walked in front of him.

Kal ignored that comment, "where...what are we doing exactly?"

"This is a mission, Kryptonian."

"It's Kal."

Diana turned, "Fine. Kal, this is a mission. We are going to the Bana Mighdall side of Themyscira."

Kal was confused now. This princess was most intriguing because she was arrogant at times, had far too much pride and she liked to get into trouble a lot it seemed. He rarely got in trouble at home, and his parents wouldn't like it if he got in trouble on a different planet. Kal was afraid to ask what this 'Bana Mighdall' was anyway, but he followed her.

"What is the Bana Mighdall?"

Diana crept behind some trees to remain hidden, "They are a tribe of Amazons who do not obey my mother's rules. They are ruthless and despise men. They only use them for procreating."

Kal stopped, "Excuse me? What do I look like to you? A female? Why are you taking me there? Are you going to sacrifice me to them?" He was half joking, of course...maybe.

Diana stifled a laugh, "Do not make me laugh, Kal, you will give away our position. We are almost there!" She lifted into the air and crouched onto a tree branch. She could see the Bana city spread out. Women riding horses in the streets and torches lit everywhere. Some were practically naked. Kal followed her and sat on the tree branch looking at the city ahead. His eyes widened at the sight in front of him. Diana looked over and started to laugh.

"What's wrong, Kal? Have you never seen a naked woman before? Oh yes, that's right. Your planet doesn't dress like that," Diana nudged his side. "Kryptonians must be a bunch of prudes."

Kal frowned, "we are not, but we certainly don't dress like..._that_."

"So how do you have sex?"

He cleared his throat, "we don't usually."

Then there was a dead silence between them. "And you?" he asked. He felt like he was invading her personal life, but she had enough guts to ask him this question, he figured she would respond honestly to him as well.

Diana looked at the women below, "I have never had lay with a man before." She answered bluntly and honestly. She then jumped down from the branch. "wait here, I will go ahead. They will not recognize me."

Kal waited for her like she said to do. He couldn't believe a person like her had never had sex with a man before. He was actually surprised, but then again, he was not because of her culture and lifestyle. He couldn't blame her, but still. She still didn't tell him what their purpose was for being here in the first place. He felt like he was committing a horrible crime whenever he was with her. Kal couldn't decide if he liked this or not. A part of him liked feeling like he was doing something dangerous and the other part felt like he needed to retreat. It just felt more fun and better when with Diana it seemed.

Diana entered the city with no problems as she hid her face except her eyes from everyone. She blended in with the crowd easily. She walked amongst the women here and they didn't seem so horrible, but it was probably because they didn't know that she was the princess in disguise. Diana hoped that Kal stayed she told him to stay. Diana came here to get some information that her mother wouldn't tell her. If she wasn't going to tell her, then she'll have to go to the source for it, even if it meant putting herself in danger.

She figured with Kal here, that they'd have no issues escaping from the Bana if anything went horrible wrong. Diana happened to hear two Bana amazons talking amongst themselves drinking some wine. They were talking about her and her mother. She crept behind a building to listen to their conversation.

"I do not like Queen Hippolyta or her golem of a daughter."

"Nobody likes them, Aysha."

"the princess is not even a true amazon. She was made from clay and as Artemis said, she can't reproduce. What good is she?"

Both women laughed and clinked their glasses.

"She is about as useful as a broken sword." both snickered.

"Indeed. Queen Antiope would have ruled Themyscira much better than her sister."

Diana gasped at that last sentence. Sister? She retreated back to where Kal still was, thank the gods.

He still was confused, "so, why are we here?"

"We need to leave right now."

Kal had no problem leaving that place. It was starting to make him feel strange. He and Diana landed in more of a lit area and she lifted the cloak hood off her head. He could tell she was a bit uneasy since they left that place.

"I did not know Amazons were capable of lying to one another," Diana frowned and stormed off. She left Kal more confused now. He shook his head and went after her.

* * *

**AN: I am finally finished with school and have had some time to write this chapter. I will write on the other soon ;). Enjoy!**


	6. Chapter 6

Family Ties

Kal went after Diana who was walking very briskly. He understood that she was upset, but with what he had no idea.

"Princess, can you just wait a second, please?" He came to a halt when Diana turned around and he nearly bumped into her.

"What do you want, Kal?" Diana folded her arms. He eyes wild and her foot tapping. She was feeling very anxious and angry. She didn't know what to feel, she could feel betrayed by her mother for not telling her, but knowing her mother there was probably a reason for this secret.

Kal cleared his throat, "I just wanted to make sure you were alright. You left that Bana place in a hurry. Why did you bring me with you anyway, you seem like you can handle yourself? Rao knows that you keep reminding me of it." His smirk on her face only made Diana raise an eyebrow and put her hands to her hips in response.

"You're right, I _can_ handle myself. I wanted you to come with me, not for that, but to talk to you afterwards. I did not expect to hear what I heard."

"What did you hear?" Kal asked genuinely concerned.

Diana sighed and put her arms around her, "Well, I was going to go to Artemis's home and listen there and possibly get some answers once I unveiled myself. Before I could make it there I heard two women talking about me. They were saying I was useless and I was not a true Amazon because of the way I was born."

Kal had no idea that these Amazons spoke of each other in such an ill way. He did not know Diana very well, her back story or her birth, but these amazons, meaning the Bana, obviously didn't like her. There being no men on the island he often wondered how there were so many women here in the first place. He also wanted to know how Diana was born, she obviously wasn't born in the traditional way by the way the amazons talked about her.

She continued, "I also found out that my mother has a sister. She never spoke about her before, at least not to me," she scoffed, "I bet the whole island knows, except me." Diana shook her head in disgust. She felt so betrayed by her mother. Her mother must have said something to the Bana to make them remain quiet on the matter. Also, why would the Bana hate her mother? She still didn't know, but she knew it had something to do with the sister.

Kal didn't know what to say and was afraid to say anything to upset Diana. "Well, if it means anything to you, I bet you're not the only person on the island that doesn't know about your mother's sister. I didn't know about it," he smiled.

Diana smiled in return at the Kryptonian's silliness. "Krypton...Kal, I never asked you, but why are you here?"

"I wanted to know more about your culture. It is so fascinating to me and we have nothing like you or this island on Krypton."

Diana cocked a brow and smirked, "We are not a museum exhibit, young prince."

Kal blushed, "I didn't mean it like that at all. I even learned a bit of the Themysciran language."

Diana folded her arms and nodded her head, "Let use hear it, Kal." She gestured with her hand to go ahead.

"_Your hair is black as night and skin as white as snow"_ Kal smiled feeling quite accomplished that he learned this. He had learned it by tapping into the Kryptonian database for languages and studied some Themysciran poetry. It took him awhile to find it, but he did. The language was easy for him to grasp and it sounded sort of similar to Kryptonese in his mind.

"I am impressed, prince. That line is from one of my favorite poems. A group of amazon poets here on Themyscira are skilled in that art form. They study for hours and even recite poems late at night in the square gardens."

Kal really liked that Diana took appreciate for his learning of her native language. "Fascinating. I would like to hear some of those one day."

Diana nodded and walked into the forest ahead. He followed behind her admiring the beautiful flowers and large exotic trees. They had trees on Krypton, but they were nothing like these trees, plus the trees on Krytpon were fake trees and required no maintenance.

They both came to a stop when they reached a large circle inside the forest that had stone benches and flowers all around. The trees created a great atmosphere and the moonlight shined onto the ground circling the benches. Diana sat down and he copied her and sat next to her, not too close of course. He folded his hands in his lap and Diana crossed one leg over the other.

"so, what are you going to do about the situation?" Kal asked.

Diana sighed, "I have not yet decided. I prefer not to tell my mother because it could create problems and Hera knows we do not need any more problems on the island. My mother is stressed and busy enough so I will not tell her."

A few silent moments passed between the two until Diana sparked a question, "what is Krypton like? You speak so highly of your home, as you should."

Kal smiled as she mentioned his home planet. He indeed wanted to explore other planets since they were available to him now. He was glad that he was given the chance to come to Themyscira to experience a new culture and new people. He really enjoyed culture and something about Diana made him want to come back to this island more. He wanted to know more about her as well.

"It is wonderful. Everybody there is different in their own way, just like on Themyscira. There are scientists, one being my father, we have a highly trained army, which is run by my mother. We also have architects and inventors."

Diana nodded, "it seems our cultures are not so different from one another."

Kal agreed with her and continued on, "yes, but we also do not have several things like your island does. Here you have thousands of different species of plants and exotic animals. You also have poets, extraordinary chefs, artists skilled in many different types of mediums. We do not have any of those on Krypton."

"Sometimes even with all of those wonderful things, life can be redundant and dull on this island. I had to force my mother to open our home to the world once again. My sisters and mother endured a lot of pain in the past. They do not talk about it a lot and I do not blame them. Partially I believe my mother hid the world not only for protection, but as the years went by and I came along, I feel as if she was using me as an excuse to not open the island to the rest of the world."

Kal frowned, "what do you mean by that?"

"When I was born my mother wanted the world for me, but as I grew older I wanted to know more beyond this island. She refused to talk about man's world, as she calls it. She refused to let me know so many things even about the island's past. She claims it is a paradise, but I couldn't disagree more. I love my home, my people and my mother, but if it were not for my persistence then this island would not be connected with the rest of the world."

"It sounds like you have a lot of impact on how things are decided in the royal court."

Diana nodded and sighed and uncrossing her legs. "I suppose I do, maybe that is why the Bana hates me even more. Some of those women are hundreds of years older than me and I have royal authority over them. I know they cannot stand it."

Kal suddenly started to realize that the Amazon princess is the way she is because she had to be tough to show authority over all the amazons on the island. He realized that Diana had never been around men or anyone else outside her culture until recently. Like him, she had been somewhat sheltered, although his life back home was far different. He didn't have to govern the entire planet, like how Diana and her mother governed the entire island. Kal now understood why she was hard to get along with sometimes and why she was such a hardass at times especially when he showed up. This program that she and her mother had implemented was a great opportunity for men around the world to know about the Themyscirans. Partially that is why he wanted to come here again, but also he had a great time getting a rise out of Diana. He never had the chance to act like this around anyone on Krypton, but if he did and he does, the other royal families, especially the girls, would not understand his joking laid back attitude.

When he spout off jokes or inciting sarcasm around his family or any other royal family, he was either stared down or ignored. His parents did not understand his humor at times, but were used to it. They preferably wanted Kal to not make those type of gestures when there are guests around, but it was inevitable.

"It is tough being a princess sometimes," Diana smiled half jokingly.

He nodded his head just staring at her while she was admiring the forest around them. Finally she turned and saw Kal was staring at her. Diana scooted away from him and laughed.

"Why are you staring? Do I have something on my face?"

"No," Kal blushed in embarrassment.

Diana then stood up and started walking away. Kal stood and followed behind very confused.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"Do you dance, Kal?"

He really enjoyed her calling him by his name but he was kind of nervous at answering this question of hers.

"Not usually. Kryptonians don't dance."

Diana's smile grew as her eyes twinkled in the moonlight. She took off into the air and the Kryptonian prince followed.

They both came to a stop and landed outside the Bengal village. He remembered this place. This was where she splashed wine in his face and she was being very irrational. He wasn't sure this was such a good idea, but in Diana went and took the cloak off and relaxed. Here she was able to escape being a princess as she mentioned before.

Diana sat down on a rug full of pillows and saw her friends over on the opposite side of the fire in the center of the village. Kal sat next to her and felt very stiff. He didn't want to make any eye contact with anybody else fearing that they would remember him from last time. Not that he _really_ cared, of course.

Diana grabbed a bottle of wine next to her and drank from the bottle. Kal turned and looked at her and was shocked. He never seen a woman act this way. He definitely was not used to this. Women on Krypton did not act like this at all.

She saw that Kal was kind of nervous and very still. She nudged him, "Do not worry Kal, you are the least of these women's concern right now," she gestured for him to look around. Now he noticed that all of the women were with men and probably drunk. They seemed to be having a good time. As far as he knew, he did remember this from last time, but it was more apparent to him this time and he didn't know why. He felt his face flush when Diana looked at him.

Diana smiled, "relax, have some wine," she handed him the bottle of wine and he was hesitant to take the offer. She chuckled, "I promise I won't splash you in the face with the wine." She pushed the wine further in his face until he finally took it.

"It tastes even better in my mouth than on my face," Kal smiled as he sipped the wine from the bottle and handed it over to Diana. He could feel the burn in his chest. Diana crossed her legs and finished the rest of the wine from the bottle. Kal's eyes widened as he watched the princess down the wine with no problem. Then he saw her grab another bottle.

"Are you alright?"

Diana nodded taking the top off the wine bottle and handed it to Kal, "so Kryptonians don't have sex?" She asked bluntly.

Kal spit out some of the wine and wiped his mouth the backside of his hand. "What?"

"Sex, you said earlier that Kryptonians don't usually have sex. Is it true?" Diana was being serious and Kal turned and made sure nobody was listening to them. Not like it mattered anyway.

"Well...yes, why do you ask?"

Diana drank some more wine, then smiled, "just wondering. I am trying to ask about your culture, Kal. Isn't that why you are here?"

Kal didn't know what to say. He couldn't tell if she were serious or not, so he decided not to say anything at all. He looked around and saw most women and men disappearing from the fire circle and then turned to see Diana with a sneaky smile. "What?"

She shook her head and kept smiling. Diana nudged Kal, "Like a woman could ever resist you. You look like a Greek God! So you all really don't have sex?"

Kal sighed, "Yes, we really don't have...sex."

"You're not all impotent are you? Is that the reason why?" Diana pressed on further. She could tell that Kal was feeling uncomfortable, but she figured since he was giving her such a hard time the first time he came here, she ought to return the favor.

Kal blushed and cleared his throat, "I don't think that is even possible for a Kryptonian, princess." He felt sort of insulted that she would even say that.

Diana nodded her head, "okay, sorry." She took another sip of the wine and handed it to Kal. He took the bottle and stared at it for awhile. "So why don't you have sex?"

"You just won't stop will you?" Kal asked.

She laughed, "are you embarrassed? I finally have struck a nerve in you."

He rolled his eyes and gave the bottle back to her without drinking from it. He looked over at her and saw she had a smug smile on her face. He saw the gears turning in her head and he figured if he didn't answer her then she'd keep asking the same question.

"In our culture we only have relations to procreate."

"And then that's it? you're done, forever?" she asked, shocked.

"I don't see you having sex with any men on the island, princess." He spat back at her.

Diana frowned and sipped from the bottle again. "No man is worthy enough for me. My mother says it is best that I keep my chastity forever since I am the Amazon warrior princess. It would look bad on her and me, if I had laid with a man."

Kal felt like he had said the wrong thing. He always felt like he was saying the wrong thing around Diana, but sometimes she was just hard to be around and it had nothing to do with him.

A moment of silence passed between the two until Kal asked a question Diana thought she'd never hear.

"What if you desire children?"

Diana turned her eyes toward him and they were making eye contact, "I cannot have children. I will never be able to have children because of the way I was born."

Kal felt really bad about asking that last question. "I'm sorry."

She smiled, "I do not want children anyway Kal. How could I be princess and have children? It is not possible."

"Your mother has you and she is Queen," he remarked and Diana nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, but I am not my mother." She put the bottle down and stood up. "I apologize. I have yet to ask you for a dance."

Kal folded his arms, "I don't dance, princess."

"It's Diana for tonight," she lent her hand out further for him to grab but he still didn't. "I can pick you up easily. I am being nice!" Diana pouted and Kal couldn't look at her face. She really was a spoiled princess. Although he really had no room to talk. Diana had been right about one thing, he didn't work for his title, it was given to him. Even though Diana is a princess, she worked for her title as the best Amazon warrior among her people. He didn't work for anything.

Kal took her hand and she smiled as they walked closer to the fire. He watched as she started to sway her hips side to side and she let her hair down from a loose bun. He had never seen anyone dance before and certainly not like _that_ before.

"You expect me to dance like you?" he started to laugh.

Diana smiled, "no I didn't expect that. If Kryptonians do not dance and they do not have sex, what do you all do for entertainment?"

Kal had to think about this one, but it was hard to think while watching her dance like that. He had to focus and turn his gaze away from her for a moment. "Ah...well, we do have balls hosted by my family. We do have a Kryptonian dance used in events like balls, weddings, and other ceremonies."

Diana stopped and caught her breath, "show me."

He took her hand and he pulled her close to his body. He wrapped his free hand around her waist and Diana put hers on his shoulder. Kal tried to move but Diana was not following him. Grinning he said, "Diana, allow me to lead you."

She looked weary at first, but slowly she started to follow his footsteps and it wasn't so horrible. It seemed a bit redundant, but Diana didn't mind. It was hard having someone so close to your face and try not to make eye contact with one another.

"I have seen a dance similar to this one in America. It looks quite boring, but somehow _this_ is entertaining." Diana smiled and looked up at him. Kal turned away from her gaze as did she. Kal spun Diana around gracefully and brought her close to him, both of their bodies touching each other.

Diana pushed away lightly and Kal looked sort of apologetic. "I apologize, princess. I believe I have overstepped my boundaries." He bowed slightly.

She paused then walked up to him with her arms out, "again."

He looked up at her and saw she was standing there ready to dance again. "Are you sure?"

She nodded.

And so they continued to dance for the next ten minutes. Others were starting to come back to the circle and saw the two dancing. Afraid to ruin the moment and step in, all male students and Amazons watched from afar, but close enough to where they could see the two dancing. All women whispered and noticed the pair that were dancing was the princess herself and the Kryptonian prince. Few knew that the Kryptonian prince was on the island, but once the gaggle of Amazons saw this, gossip would spread quickly across the island.

* * *

Diana and Kal had stayed up most of the night and into the early morning as well. Once they had finished dancing they looked up to see everyone watching them. After that both of them left the Bengal village and stayed in the royal gardens until it was morning. Diana suggested that he'd go back to his quarters and talk later in the day as it was sunrise now.

Diana walked up the stairs from outside and into the palace looking quite a mess. She smelled like wine and sweat. All the amazons in the palace looked at Diana with puzzled faces. They whispered amongst themselves as they saw the princess walking down the hallway with a grin on her face.

"It appears that the princess is in a daze, wouldn't you say so Penelope?"

"Indeed. The princess can be quite odd sometimes though," Zubaida and Penelope smiled and continued with their morning chores in the palace before the Queen arrived.

Diana opened her doors to her room and closed them behind her and she sighed.

"Did your studies get the better of you, Diana?"

Diana's eyes bulged and she looked at her bed and saw her mother sitting on her bed, fully dressed with her tiara and all.

"Of course, mother. I was studying all night."

Hippolyta looked at Diana as she was undressing in front of her. She nodded, "what were you studying?"

Diana grabbed a towel and started the water in her bathroom. She was just stalling of course. "Amazon philosophy. I will teach it later today in philosophy class."

"Very interesting. Which philosopher did you study? There are so many."

Diana fumbled, "uh, Plato for awhile then switched to Socrates."

Hippolyta stood up from the bed and Diana hoped she was done with the questioning, because she was basically lying through her teeth to her mother.

"Did you not teach Socrates and Plato's work in philosophy class last week, Diana?"

Diana rolled her eyes and stood up wrapping the towel around her nude body and turned to look at her mother.

Hippolyta frowned with furrowed brows now. "When did you think it was a good idea to tell me that the Kryptonian Prince has come to stay here and join our program?"

"I was going to inform you today mother."

"Of course you were, just like you were studying philosophy all night."

Diana tried to hide her smile. She decided not to say anything and steer her gaze away from her mother's intense stare.

"I heard from the grapevine that you were in fact dancing with a man, but not just any man, the Kryptonian prince. Diana, what in Gods' name were you thinking?"

"I was not, I was..."

"You are correct. You were not thinking. Do not spend any more time with him, Diana, or else I will revoke your position as the head coordinator for the international study program."

Diana gasped and before she could say anything her mother had closed the door loudly and she frowned. She unsheathed herself and stepped into the bath and sunk her hair into the oiled water.

She had no idea why her mother would be so upset with her spending time with a prince. They didn't do anything harmful to each other or their status. Although, Diana could see why her mother would be angry. She did not tell her that Kal came in and that she accepted him into the program.

Diana figured there was a different reason why she wouldn't let her be around Kal. She was tired of her mother keeping secrets from her. She needed to know more about this island and its past.

"I am going to murder all of those women. Grapevine," Diana scoffed.

* * *

**AN: sorry the last chapter was kind of short. And sorry for the grammar mistakes too! Next chapter will be about something...intense lol. Enjoy everyone.**


	7. Chapter 7

The Fox and The Hound

Kal lay on his bed in the room that Diana had put him in. He didn't have to do any training today or work around the island as far as he knew. Supposedly the amazons allowed the male students to have a day off every once in awhile. Kal thought they gave them all a day off because they had other duties to attend to. A few hours ago he listened to some women talking amongst themselves and he had heard that there was some kind of ceremony with the Queen and Diana tonight. He could only assume that is why the students were released from their daily activities. He didn't mind the day off, but he had been here for almost two weeks now.

Kal started to notice that within the past two weeks that Diana was not talking to him and seemed to be ignoring him. He also noticed that she was nowhere to be found whenever he was on the training grounds. He didn't really understand why she was being so distant. He wasn't one to be rude and listen in on Diana when she was with her mother or by herself in the gardens studying, but sometimes he just couldn't help it and he rather enjoyed using his powers on earth as he wasn't able to on Krypton.

Suddenly a knock came to his door and he got up and opened the door. It was one of the amazons, she was rather short and blonde but well built just like the rest of the women on Themyscira.

With no apparent expression she brought forward a piece of paper towards Kal. "Your majesty this is for you, from Princess Diana." She bowed as he took the small folded up piece of paper from the woman.

"What is this?" He asked curiously as she was walking away from his doorway.

She stopped and turned around, "I do not know your majesty. Have a good evening." She nodded and continued down the hall. As she rounded the corner Kal watched her leave then his eyes glanced down to the paper in his hand. Slowly closing the door he made his way to the bed and sat down carefully opening the folded paper.

If it was from Diana like the woman said it must be important. Surely it wasn't meant for everyone as she had a woman come hand deliver it to him. If it was an announcement a horn would be heard and everyone would receive a more proper delivery handed to them in a scroll at their doors. He could only assumed that Diana wanted to talk to him. Hopefully so, he thought.

Kal saw the note was handwritten. She has very lovely handwriting, he thought with a smile gracing his face.

_Kal,_

_I am sorry I have been very distant as of late. My mother told me to keep my distance from you and not to be around you too much. She threatened to revoke my position as the international program's coordinator._

_I could not refuse as the program is international and approved by the council. I hope you understand and perhaps I will find the answer to her worries soon enough. Tonight is the celebration of my mother's birthday and she does not like to make a fuss about it. She persists that the island not throw a party for her, but myself and others always throw her a party every year even if she dislikes the idea._

_I have personally invited you as you are royalty and part of the world council. Sorry for the late announcement, but I gave everyone the day off. The celebration starts after sunset._

_Hope to see you later tonight,_

_Diana_

Kal set the note aside and rubbed the back of his head. The Queen's birthday, he thought. This was a first for him. On Krypton they celebrated birthdays as well, but his parents were also indifferent about their birthdays. He didn't think too much about his either.

Diana invited him to a royal celebration and luckily he did bring with him his royal attire, but it wasn't for ceremonies like this. He didn't know what to wear to these kinds of functions here, but he felt that it would be strange if he showed up in his Kryptonian attire. It would make him feel awkward with all the women around him. Looking at the drapes near the window he suddenly had an idea and grinned.

* * *

Diana was in her room putting earrings on and fixing her hair for tonight. She was not going to be late like last year at her mother's birthday party. Tonight she wore a green long gown with a golden belt at her small waist. Standing up looking in her full length mirror she touched her waist making final adjustments. Her gown had two large slits on the sides exposing her long toned legs.

Finally smiling at her appearance she head out of her bedroom and made her way into the throne room for the ceremony. As she walked down the hallway she saw many amazons bow at her and she smiled at them and said hello to them all.

Arriving in the throne room she saw her mother was talking with Phillipus, of course. She glanced around and saw everyone was showing up on time, but in fact it was about thirty minutes early for the party would begin. She took a glass of wine off one of the tables and slowly sipped looking around and could not see Kal anywhere in the room full of women. She mostly towered over everyone so it was easy for her to see over a large crowd, but this time it proved quite difficult.

"Diana I see..." Mala tapped Diana's arm and she flinched almost spilling her glass of her wine. "Sorry I didn't meant to scare you!" The amazon giggled.

Diana cleared her throat, "you are fine. Sorry for being so jumpy." she sipped from her glass once more still looking in the crowd.

"I hope your mother likes her party tonight. The royal guard and I have planned something special for her," Mala smiled and folded her arms. She waited for a response from Diana but didn't get one.

"Are you alright, Diana?"

Diana stopped looking around and turned to look at Mala. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I asked if you were alright."

"Oh," Diana sipped her wine again, "yes I'm grand," she glanced around the room once more. She then handed her drink to her friend. "Could you hold this for me?"

"Um, sure, Diana," Mala took the glass from the princess very confused at her behavior. "Diana why are you acting so strange?" She quietly asked herself.

Diana made her way through the crowd of women easily and went outside to the entrance of the palace. It was getting close to sunset now and he still was not here. She watched as everyone walked inside the palace wearing their finest gowns and had their hair beautifully done. She smiled and nodded as everyone came inside.

Perhaps he will not attend, Diana thought.

* * *

Half an hour after the sun had set Kal was still in his suite and the room was candlelit. One thing he did appreciate was light and Themyscira was not known for having electricity like Krypton did. Maybe he could provide that for the amazons and their lives would be so much easier at night. One skill he did acquire on Themyscira was the ability to sew clothing. He had read about it in books on Krypton as he studied earth long before the two planets were opened to one another. He picked up the skill within the hour of learning it, but it was entirely different from how clothing was produced on Krypton. Clothes were made by a computer and were finished within less than a minute. Kal admired these amazons for designing and sewing their own clothes for everyday wear, formal and battle wear.

Finally finishing the piece he stood up and got out of his clothes and put on his creation. He had seen the male gods in the books he read on Themyscira and their clothes seemed very easy to construct. Memorizing the style and structure he was able to make a toga like attire from the drapes in his bedroom. Hopefully Diana would appreciate this as he was trying to show respect and appreciation for her culture. He smiled exiting his room and heading to the palace for the Queen's birthday.

After Diana finished her toast in honor of her mother's birthday everyone cheered and joined in drinking their wine and engaged in conversation. She stepped down from the dais and was stopped by her mother's hand on her upper arm.

"Diana, thank you for throwing this party for me. I know how I say I dislike celebrating my birthday every year, but I appreciate the planning you do for it." Hippolyta smiled.

Diana smiled in return, "I will gladly do it every year mother and it will always be even more magnificent than the last." Both exchanged hugs. "I shall fetch some more wine," she took her mother's glass and made her way to the tables filled with drink and food.

Kal stepped into the palace and had never seen so many beautiful women all at once in the same room! He scanned the room looking for Diana and saw her easily. Her hair in a braid down her back and wearing a green gown. He hoped that his appearance wouldn't startle any of the amazons, but most seemed more interested in their wine. He was listening to conversations and some wanted to go see the males after the ceremony.

He made his way to the tables and tapped Diana on the shoulder.

"I am almost done, one moment," Diana said filling the glasses to the rim with red wine.

"That is a lovely shade of green on you, princess."

Diana recognized that voice and she held her breath. Turning around with the glasses in her hands she gasped as she saw what he was wearing.

"Gods, Kal!"

Kal looked down at his clothing and felt like he had done something so horrible. Oh Rao, she hates it.

"Did I do something wrong? I knew I should have made it a little longer in the front, but I was just going off what I saw in the books."

"you look..."

Kal sighed, "horrible? Look, I don't wear this style of clothing. Perhaps if I were more bronzed like you it might look a little more appealing especially on my legs."

Diana was almost at a loss of words. He truly looked like a Greek god. His body could rival Hercules and all other Olympians. She was amazed that he did not appear in his usual Kryptonian wear or even the clothing that the amazons provided for all the students.

"_Wonderful_," she finally said aloud as her eyes scanned over his body once more.

Kal smiled at her response and her dazed look on her face. "A compliment for you is so unusual. I must cherish it forever," he said with a smile putting his hand on his chest in mocking admiration.

Diana smirked, "Have you made this yourself, Kal?"

He nodded.

"How did you find such beautiful fabric in such a short amount of time?" she set the glasses down on the table and touched the fabric with her fingertips.

He came very close to her face and she did not back away but she was very cautious of what he was doing. He leaned into her ear and whispered, "they are the drapes from my suite."

Diana stifled a laugh as he backed away from her ear. "How _resourceful_ of you."

She started to look around and saw some of the women were looking their way and she left the glasses and took Kal by the hand and lead him down the hallway away from the prying eyes. He didn't seem to mind and followed casually.

"So this quite the party you have put together here, princess."

She nodded, "I do it every year even though my mother dislikes it. We all know she enjoys it and does not want to admit it."

"I read your letter earlier today and was wondering why you had been ignoring me for the past two weeks and now I see why."

Diana sighed, "I apologize for that. My mother's word is important, even though sometimes I disapprove of her rules and occasionally disobey her."

"_Occasionally_?" Kal smiled smugly as he teased her.

She shook her head, "Okay, most of the time but, that's all I'm going to admit to," she smiled.

Both made their way outside in the royal gardens as the celebration carried on without them in the room. Diana was sure that she would not be missed and they took a walk in the exotic garden.

Kal was admiring the candles lit in the garden's pathways and the gorgeous trees and flowers surrounding them. "your island is very stunning, Diana."

"Thank you. Maybe someday I will be able to travel to your home and experience your culture."

"I doubt you will be impressed by it. Your culture is far superior even though it lacks modern technology. Something I could never get used to. I envy your gardens and the bond you and your amazon sisters have with each other." He admitted and they kept walking further into the large garden.

There was silence between them for a few moments until Diana stopped and gestured for them to sit on a stone bench in the most lit part of the garden. He did not hesitate and sat a reasonable distance from Diana. She inched her way closer to him and although he noticed he did not make it aware to the princess.

"I have been studying a lot in the library this week. Ever since I knew my mother had a sister and that she was in charge of the Bana Amazons I could not let it just go in the back of my mind. I made it necessary to find information on Themyscira before the split with my mother and her sister, Antiope."

"Did you find anything worthwhile?" he asked genuinely.

Diana nodded. "I did find something, but it was not much. I spent all my free time in the library searching for hours for a little bit of information. I found out that my mother and her sister did get along, but what I did not know is that my mother had allowed men on the island. The little information I found did not reveal much about why my mother did this. It also said that Antiope split herself off from my mother and other amazons as well. After that I did not find anything else. It is so strange."

"Strange indeed," Kal agreed. "Maybe your mother revised the scrolls and books in the library so that her sister would never be studied about."

Diana couldn't wrap that logic around her head. "But...why would she do that?"

He shrugged, "You are asking the wrong person, Diana. From what I can tell and you don't have to take this into consideration, but I believe Antiope did something to your mother and therefore maybe that is why she is not spoken of and why she is no longer here. See Diana, you have to look at the evidence and make a theory. Your mother is Queen and her sister was also Queen apparently. One of them did something horrible to the other and that is why there can only be one ruler."

Diana couldn't help but laugh at his explanation, but she did think his theory was correct. "You sound like a true scientist. You are definitely from Krypton."

Kal didn't know whether that was a compliment or an insult but he decided not to say anything and just accept it as a compliment.

Moving on he added, "I suggest that there is more going on between your mother and sister than what lies in your island's library."

"Where do suggest I find out more information? I cannot simply tell my mother. She obviously kept this secret from me for a reason. Something horrible must have happened between them." Diana shook her head as these thoughts were swimming in her head.

"My father always taught me to be a theorist. Anything can be plausible if you find the right facts. I will help you find out what happened to your aunt."

Diana smiled. A moment of silence passed. She was getting more curious as she was spending more time with Kal. Although she hadn't known him for that long she felt like she could trust him and she actually got along with him despite his joking attitude sometimes. She felt like her tense personality was balanced when she was with him.

"Why did you decide to make that toga, Kal? Are you trying to impress me?" she mused.

Kal blushed and didn't make eye contact with the princess. "Would it be rude of me to say yes?"

Diana chuckled and crossed one leg over the other, "Maybe, but I will let it slide just this once, for you only, Kryptonian."

"What would you say if I had said no?" Kal teased with a grin.

"Then I'd call you a liar. Everyone knows I am very desirable."

Kal busted out laughing and Diana frowned folding her arms. He caught his breath, "desirable is not the word I'd use." He cleared his throat and stared at the slightly irritated amazon princess.

"Enlighten me then, Kal. If I am not desirable to you or to any other man in the universe, what am I?"

Kal sat and waited to respond. This could be a trap he thought, but he knew if he didn't answer she'd keep asking. She had a problem with patience. Typical princess pain-in-the-ass syndrome that he knew all too well back on Krypton with Zod and Ursa's eldest daughter.

"If I am to be honest, which I'm going to be, I'd say you are irate, stubborn, impatient, intense, spoiled," he paused once he saw Diana's eye color change to a dark green. "But also beautiful not just on the outside but on the inside. You have a kind heart and do not show it very often. How's that? How did I do? Did I pass the test?" He joked.

Diana nudged him as her temper simmered down and she relaxed.

"You think of me as kind?" Diana asked in a soft voice.

He nodded, "on Krypton we do not display emotions like you and your sisters do here. I am not like my parents or any other Kryptonian on my planet. They are all too serious sometimes and do not know how to laugh. Here I am allowed to jest and be myself. Something I am unable to do back home. You may be a bit unreasonable at times, but you have a kind heart. I can sense it." He smiled.

"My sisters used to tell me stories of how horrible the men were when they came to Themyscira long before I was born. They never told me too much, but I had the feeling that men did more than just misbehave themselves with my sisters. I have been kept in the dark about my people's past and it bothers me. I am the youngest amazon here while others are thousands of years old. Perhaps I shall learn to laugh a bit especially when I am around you and remind my sisters to join in as well."

Kal and Diana locked eyes for awhile and then he turned away as he didn't want to get too uncomfortable staring at her. Kal had to remind himself that she was a princess and a virgin as well. He too had never had sex before, but he didn't want to tell her that otherwise the conversation could get awkward again like it did before at Bengal village. He enjoyed spending time with her and the more time they spent together he realized that Diana was not such a hardass as she claimed to be. Sure she had to be authoritative but she was very nice, actually. He also liked teasing her a lot which he didn't get to do to the Kryptonian princesses back home. She didn't give him weird looks but instead she joined in the teasing game, but sometimes he wondered if she would randomly attack him. He would never know about her.

"Kal may I ask a question?"

"I am all ears," he leaned in and she smiled at his light silly attitude.

"You came all the way here to learn about my people's culture and how my island works, correct?" She saw him nod. "But why didn't you just come as yourself instead of auditioning for a spot in the Themsyciran student program?"

Kal was careful with his words, "is it so wrong of me to get the whole experience, princess? If I came here as a Kryptonian prince then I would not get to experience everything that the other men do."

"I see," Diana nodded her head and looked around at the garden surrounding them. "You are a _really_ awful liar, Kal-El." She turned her head quickly and he blinked in shock at her retort.

"You're calling me a liar?"

"Yes in fact I am!" Diana put her hands on her hips with a smirk on her face. He could tell that she was teasing him.

He mocked her putting his hands on his hips as well. "Alright you're right. I didn't come here just for the culture and experience as a student."

Diana's heart skipped a beat and she bated his response which felt like it was taking forever.

"I also came for the exotic food and wine," he smiled at her and she rolled her eyes smacking his arm. "Ouch, you might want to be careful of your strength, princess." He rubbed his arm. Surely he was playing up the pain as it didn't really hurt but she _can_ hit pretty hard.

"You are incorrigible. I don't know what I am going to do with you." Diana jokingly shook her head.

Kal was admiring Diana's smile and she had smiled a lot since he had came here. He enjoyed looking at her smile and how stunning it was. Her smile lit up a room opposed to her stale serious face she made ninety percent of the time.

"How long will you be staying on Themyscira? The program is at least a year long, but I understand if you have other obligations. Royal duties can be a pain sometimes."

He agreed with her on that note. "I didn't exactly tell my parents how long I'd be away. In fact I left spontaneously while I was sparring with my mother. If my parents need me I am sure they will contact me or your mother. Is she still sour about us spending time together?"

She sighed at that last sentence he said, "It is because she distrusts men and fears that you will become infatuated with me."

"How could anyone be infatuated with you?" He said sarcastically. "My mother has said the same thing to me. She wants to set me up with one of the Kryptonian princesses and she really loves the Zod family, but I doubt anything will come of it. Their eldest daughter really does not like me or at least that's what I think."

Diana didn't think that arranged marriages happened on Krypton and inside she felt a twinge as he spoke of marrying a princess from his home planet.

"Have you kissed her?" Diana asked out of the blue.

Kal was caught off guard at this question. "Um, no I have not kissed her."

"You have never kissed any woman before?" she continued on with the questioning. Her curious mind was getting the best of her now.

"Well...no I have not." He was starting to feel uncomfortable now. "Have you? I mean...not a woman. A man of course. Never mind forget that question. Wow, this is...wow. You are really hard to have a decent conversation with sometimes you know that?" He nervously smiled and tried not to make direct eye contact with her.

"Have you ever wondered what it feels like?" Diana scooted closer to him feeling her body warm up instantly as she moved in closer to his body.

He didn't want to scoot away from her because if he did he would fall off the bench. He wasn't exactly sure what she was getting at right now.

"I've read about it. Seen it before a couple of times."

"Reading and seeing are two different things compared to the actual deed."

* * *

**AN: I decided to make this chapter a more conversational one between Diana and Kal. I wanted to them to connect on a different level. I will spring something intense later on in the story. Wonder what will happen next? ;) Enjoy and feedback is appreciated :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: aha sorry for the cliffhanger. I had this chapter backed up already to go! Tehe. Enjoy**

* * *

Singing Sirens

Kal stared at Diana as she seemed to be getting closer to him by the second. He stared into her eyes and they looked a bit dangerous in his point of view. He didn't know what to do around women that much. Sure he liked to tease Diana and he definitely admired her beauty and feisty attitude, but the truth is that he had never kissed anyone and he sure didn't want to start with Diana. She was gorgeous no doubt and it wasn't like he hadn't thought of it before, but he was starting to sweat which that never really happened to him out of nervousness.

Diana leaned in closer and smiled as she saw that he was appearing to get more nervous the more she leaned into his body.

"Do I have a disease or something, Kal?" Diana's voice soft and almost like she was luring him in.

"N-no of course not."

"Then why don't you want to kiss me? We've both never kissed anybody before," Diana still smiling and very close to him now.

Kal did his best not to react to her voice and not to make eye contact with her. "It's not that I don't want to Diana, I just think it is not proper of me to do so." He wiped his forehead with the backside of his hand.

Diana scoffed, "proper this, proper that. Must we always be so proper? It is not as if our parents are looking." Her smile deepened and she grabbed his face with her hand and turned his head towards her. Both of their eyes were finally locked. "Am I going to have to fight you? I bet you are not even wearing anything under that toga of yours."

Kal saw her eyes glancing down and she was right he was not wearing anything. It was how it was supposed to be worn and he now felt even more uncomfortable being next to her. Suddenly he got up and she folded her arms. He stood at a good distance from Diana and he saw her face had a look of disappointment and slight irritation.

"Why don't you want to kiss me?" Diana asked standing up and coming closer to him. He didn't back away but he didn't respond either. "Am I not good looking enough for you? Should I undress for you?"

"Oh Rao, no don't do that," Kal grabbed her hands as she was about to take the belt around her waist off.

"Then what is it?" Diana asked becoming a little angry that he wouldn't just kiss her.

He sighed and put his hands on her shoulders, "I don't want to kiss you and be disappointed. I also have respect for you and think it is not the right time."

"When is the right time then?"

For this question Kal did not have an answer. He stood there looking blankly at Diana's face and she smirked as she knew he didn't have an answer.

"I'm not in love with you or anything. Just think of me as one of your experiments. We can kiss and see what all the fuss is about then we don't have to speak about it again, fair enough?" Diana was waving a great opportunity in his face and he'd be crazy to refuse this, she thought.

"Okay...if you put it like that then I guess I wouldn't feel so bad," Kal said shrugging his shoulders lightly.

Diana smiled and came closer to him and he leaned down as he was slightly taller than her. She gave him a peck on the lips and then pulled away.

While the kiss was only a few seconds it had felt like a lifetime for Kal. He instantly felt his body warm up when her lips met his. He looked at her and she had a smile on her face and hands on her hips. He wouldn't know how she felt but he could hear her heart beat and it was more rapid than usual.

"That was not so awful now was it? I was expecting more," Diana teased.

* * *

A week had passed since Diana had kissed Kal and they had been spending more time together in secret away from her mother's prying eyes. She made sure that none of her mother's spies would be able to find out the time they were spending together. Usually they met after sunset and stayed far away from the palace grounds. They also stayed far away from the villages beyond the palace just in case her sisters would tell on her again. It would be almost a month since Kal had come to Themyscira. She really despised him when she first met him, but she was starting to come to like being around him. He was not only intelligent but he was also nice and he respected her. She appreciated that a lot especially since he was a male. Although she had never been exposed to being mistreated by any man in her life, she followed in her mother's footsteps about being extra careful around men in general. When she was around Kal she felt safe, as if she needed protecting, but she felt more at ease and didn't have to be so authoritative.

Kal suggested to Diana that he should present to the Queen a plan to incorporate electricity on the island so daily activities can carry out longer than sunset. Diana wasn't sure that her mother would go for the idea but she said that it would be good to at least present the idea. He told her that he had been planning on this idea ever since he came to the island with his parents.

Today was a more relaxed day and Diana had talked about the presentation with her mother prior and had agreed today was the day that Kal would present the idea of electricity on Themyscira.

It was mid-afternoon when Kal left his room and was making his way to the palace to brief his idea to Queen Hippolyta. He walked into the palace with some blueprints he had made and said hello to all the guards and they bowed in return instantly recognizing him.

Entering the throne room he saw Hippolyta sitting on her throne and Diana by her side standing up. Diana had a smile on her face the moment he walked into the room and her mother looked up at her daughter and saw the apparent smile on her face. She would definitely have a talk with her about that later.

"Your majesty," Kal bowed.

"Prince Kal-El, good afternoon. I trust you are doing well. I hope you are enjoying our program so far."

Kal nodded, "yes everything has been wonderful. Your island is so rich in knowledge and potential it really excites me to present this idea to you."

An hour had passed since Kal had presented the blueprints to Queen Hippolyta and Diana. He was explaining at with the island's isolation that electricity would not be a problem to install especially if he used Kryptonian technology. He explained that he could obtain the technology if he went back home and modified the technology for the island that it would be easy and cost almost nothing to make.

When he was finished talking the room was silent and he could tell the wheels in the Queen's head were turning. Diana waited patiently next to her mother and crossed her fingers behind her back hoping that her mother would approve or at least think about this.

"You are very intelligent and inventive, Kal-El. I admire that in you and you are very generous as well. Why do you want to help my people?"

"Well I think it would give the amazons more work time and cut their time in half and they would be able to spend more time doing other activities."

"such as?" Hippolyta asked curiously.

Kal stuttered, "uhm, I do not know, your majesty. Perhaps they could go celebrate and sleep in more the following day and have longer breaks in between working. This would also be good for the students as well. We could continue working on our studies longer in the day."

Diana hoped that his last statement would make her mother approve of the idea even more. She always wanted the students to excel in their learning about Themyscira's culture.

"Your idea is quite remarkable and an offer that is hard to refuse, Kal-El," Hippolyta nodded her head. "I will approve of this technology as long as it does not interfere with my people's lives in a negative way."

"Of course your majesty." Kal smiled and bowed.

"You may begin this invention of yours. I will have to be going now. I have to travel to America for business. Diana I trust that you will be in charge while I am gone." Her eyes turned to her daughter.

Diana nodded her head, "yes mother." With that Hippolyta left the room and that left Kal and Diana in the room together. "Your idea is so fabulous, Kal! My mother actually approved of it!" She ran up to him and hugged him instantly.

Kal was a bit shocked at Diana's embrace but he didn't deny it was a nice feeling to be accepted and important.

"We should celebrate! Tonight I will take you to the Siren Den." Diana smiled widely and Kal looked nervous and confused.

"What is the Siren Den?" He was almost afraid to ask.

"A place that I am prohibited by my mother to go to." Diana added. "I will see you after sunset at our usual spot, right?"

He nodded and watched her leave the room with her hands behind her back. He wasn't so sure it was a good idea to go to this 'Siren Den' place tonight if Diana was supposedly prohibited to go there.

* * *

Kal looked outside and it was after sunset and everyone was winding down from the day. He saw women packing their things up and heading back to their villages for the evening. He sighed and flew out the window to meet Diana in the forest at their usual spot. This was the place that nobody would dare go to at night. Kal was waiting for Diana to show up and he looked around and heard some rustling in the bushes in front of him.

Diana stepped out with her dark cloak and unveiled herself. "I thought you weren't going to make it after what I told you earlier today."

"Yes well...I'm here am I not?" Kal smiled nervously.

He followed Diana as they tread through the forest. It seemed it would be easier to fly above, but he knew that Diana wanted to keep their spending time together a secret virtually from everyone here on the island. What seemed like forever of walking cautiously they finally stepped out of the forest and Kal stood next to Diana who had now pulled the hood of her cloak over her head again.

Kal looked around and saw that there was a large waterfall and a large pool in front of them. He could see the moonlight hitting the water perfectly and it glimmered in the moonlight. The water looked so blue and magical. He kept looking around and saw gorgeous six foot tall pink flowers around the water pool. He had never seen those plants on the island before.

"So what is so special about this place?" Kal asked quietly making sure nothing would pop out around them.

Diana smiled, "In an old Themysciran legend it was said that here in this spot lived beautiful sirens. Only at night they were visible and the men that trespassed on the island were so entranced by the siren's beauty and these plants here would release toxic gases making the pathetic males pass out. It was then that the sirens were able to grow legs from their tails and walk on land to take the men into the water and eat them."

Kal looked frightened at this story. "So, why did you bring me here? Do I look like a woman to you?"

"Oh most definitely not," Diana laughed. "It is only silly tales that we amazons tell. It's not real, don't worry!"

"So again why did you bring me here?"

Diana grabbed his hand and she took off her cloak and left it in a tree branch and then let go of his hand and dived into the water. "Follow me," she dove underneath the water.

Kal sighed and didn't know if he could trust Diana, but he figured that if she jumped into the water that he should be fine too. Once he dove into the water he saw Diana with a smile on her face. The water pool was quite deep as it was black down below.

Diana swam off into the distance and he followed almost reluctantly. What seemed like forever swimming he saw Diana had entered some type of cave that had torches upon the wall. They both reached the surface for air and the cave was not underwater. Diana stepped out of the water and ringed the water out of her wavy dark hair. Kal stepped out of the water as well and spun around quickly drying himself.

Diana blinked, "wow could you do that for me?" she joked. He didn't think it was a joke and blew a massive amount of wind at her unexpectedly and she fell over landing on her behind. "Kal what in tartarus!"

"You said..."

"I was just joking, gods." Diana stood up and ran her fingers through her now puffy wavy hair. The humidity in the cave was not helping. Then she walked down deeper into the cave following the torches' light illuminating the cave.

"What is this place?"

"A secret place where all the action happens," Diana smiled smugly. After walking down the long cave pathway for about ten minutes they came to a large door and Diana opened it slowly.

As the door opened both of them stepped inside and it was a sight that nobody wanted to miss for sure. There were candles hanging from the cave's ceiling and tables everywhere. There were also a lot of women here drinking, of course. Kal seemed to notice that the amazons really loved alcohol and playing violent games. He didn't mind, but it was something he'd probably never get used to. He also noticed that there were no males here which made him apprehensive to be in this cave.

"This is the Siren Den," Diana said aloud and smiled looking at everyone. She reached over at a table and grabbed a bottle of wine and grabbed Kal's hand and basically dragged him to sit on a large floor couch with her.

As Kal sat on the sofa with Diana he started to notice that these amazons didn't look like the other amazons on the other side of the island. He looked at their hands as two women were playing some kind of board game that looked similar to American chess. He saw that their hands were webbed and their ears were pointed almost like the elves in fairytales he read about when he studied earth. Most of the women in the cave were barefoot and he saw that there was webbing in between their toes.

"Diana...?"

Diana opened the bottle of wine finally, "yes, Kal?"

"These women aren't amazons are they?"

She smiled, "Yes, they are sirens. How long did it take you to figure that out?" She nudged him and he nervously laughed. "Kal, that tale I told you is just Themysciran folklore. The sirens are harmless and do not care about eating men as a sport." Diana laughed.

Kal drank from the wine bottle and it tasted kind of strange compared to the wine they had on land. No pun intended. "so why are you exactly banished from this place?"

Diana smiled, "I came here when I was sixteen because I was curious. When I arrived I ended up being found out because my mother's guards followed me here and I was embarrassingly escorted back to the palace. My mother doesn't really care for the sirens, she calls them harlots."

"And you've obviously been back since," Kal noted.

She nodded, "not too often though. I was constantly being followed until my mother opened Themyscira up to the world. I haven't been here in six years but it's like how I always remembered it."

"It is quite beautiful to look at. I love the candles," Kal looked around and admired his surroundings. "Oh I forgot to ask, have you found anything about Antiope?"

A siren nearby turned her gaze over to Kal and Diana sitting on the floor. She heard the name Antiope and she recognized Diana as the princess. She was playing that board game with another siren until she got up and excused herself from the game for a moment.

Diana saw that a woman was approaching them. Kal noticed that all the sirens were flatchested and were all slender in size and were rather tall.

The siren woman knelt down and smiled, "Princess Diana it such an honor to see you here. We have not seen you in so long." She bowed her head slightly.

"I'm not a princess for tonight, only Diana."

The woman smiled and nodded her head, "and who might this be?" Her eyes narrowing and her smile growing curiously. She lent her hand out to shake Kal's hand. "My name is Thalassa."

Kal shook her hand as if he had a choice in the matter. "My name is Kal-El, from Krypton, the House of El."

Thalassa's eyes widened, "two royals in the Siren Den. Such an honor," she bowed.

Diana forgot to mention that the sirens really did love to flirt with males and she rolled her eyes at the woman.

"Do you have something important to share, Thalassa?" Diana's tone very annoyed. Thalassa could tell that the princess didn't like her touching this Kryptonian prince and so she backed off. She had heard that the princess gets whatever she wants and didn't want to cross her in any way.

"Oh yes. I heard you say the name Antiope and wondered where you had heard that name before?"

Diana and Kal looked at each other kind of confused. Diana answered for the both of them, "Why are you asking?"

Thalassa sat down in front of them on the sofa across from theirs. "Well," she began in a soft quiet voice, "I haven't heard anyone speak of that name in over a thousand years. You see, the sirens do not like the person you speak of. Nobody dares even to say her name around here. She did terrible things to us sirens."

Diana raised an eyebrow and set the wine bottle aside. Kal too wanted to hear more but decided to let Diana take the lead in this one. "What kind of terrible things?"

"I do not like to say them aloud, but one of the horrible acts carried out consisted of polluting our water. She knew we were only allowed out water for a certain amount of time and most of the sirens died because we could no longer go into the water as it wasn't safe anymore. It wasn't until Queen Hippolyta that she saved us and provided fresh safe water."

"What happened after that?" Diana asked.

Thalassa shook her head, "I do not know. How did you hear of her name? I thought Amazons did not know about her. Most of the amazons that knew of her are dead now."

This piece of information proved useful to Diana and she realized that she wasn't the only one that was out of the loop about her mother's sister.

"your information is most useful to me, Thalassa," Diana smiled and drank some more wine.

The siren smiled weakly and nodded her head. She still didn't receive an answer from the princess, but she didn't really expect one. As she was getting up to leave she pointed to the east side of the large cave.

"There are private quarters in the back of the eastern side of the Den if you want," she winked at Kal and left the two sitting by themselves.

Kal looked very confused as Thalassa left them. "What did she mean by that? Is she going to eat me?"

Diana rolled her eyes and shook her head, "just forget what she said. They're all whores. At least they aren't as bad as the harpies."

"The what?" Kal asked nervously.

Diana swallowed some more wine, "you do not wish to know about harpies, Kal." Kal noticed that her tone was very serious and he didn't ask any more questions about harpies. If Diana said that he didn't want to know then it was probably best that he didn't.

A few silent minutes passed by but Kal was enjoying the atmosphere so much he didn't mind that they weren't talking at the moment. He then felt a hand on top of his and his eyes immediately widened. Not this again. He looked over to see Diana lacing her hands in between his.

"So what are you doing there?" Kal nervously asked.

Diana smiled and put her head on his shoulder, "I am just experimenting like we did with the kiss, remember?"

How could he forget, "yes of course."

Diana bit her bottom lip and turned her eyes up to Kal. "Kal?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think we could 'experiment' again?"

Kal knew what that meant and he tried his best to restrain himself. This cave was getting awfully hot.

"I'm sorry what did you say?" Kal asked.

Diana hit him in the arm, "Oh come on, I _know_ you heard me. Stop playing this game with me! I know you want to kiss me." She was on her knees now with her hands on her hips. Other sirens looked their way and Kal felt his face flush with embarrassment.

He grabbed her arm and stood up and they went deeper into the cave where Thalassa said there were private quarters, whatever that meant.

"Why did you take us in here?!" Diana folded her arms.

"You were making a scene, Diana." Kal looked around and saw that nobody in the room they stepped in. there was however gold furniture and candles everywhere. This room wasn't really helping the situation.

"Why won't you just kiss me?"

Kal was tired of Diana saying this over and over. "You want me to kiss you?" He yelled.

"Yes!" she yelled back at him.

"Fine!"

Kal grabbed Diana's face and kissed her on the lips and it was more than a peck this time. Their bodies seemed to relax and Diana wrapped her arms around his neck gradually.

After what seemed like a lifetime they finally pulled away and looked at each other.

"Will that suffice?" Kal asked Diana as they were both breathing heavily and their noses almost touching.

"I'd say that was more than an experiment. What other experiments are you good at, Kryptonian?" Diana smiled deviant-like.

Kal cleared his throat as Diana backed away from him and slid her arms off the back of his neck. "I don't have sex with strangers and people I don't love."

"Well lucky for you, I'm not a stranger and I don't love you either."

* * *

**AN: oh so sorry I had to do it to you all again...;)**


	9. Chapter 9

The Treasure

Kal stared at Diana as she made her way to a lounger and laid down gracefully, showing a bit too much leg for him even. His eyes averted to other trinkets in the room so he didn't have to look at Diana, even though it was rather tempting.

"I said I don't have sex with strangers, Diana," he said getting a little more nervous because of the look in her eyes.

"I'm not a stranger to you am I Kal?" she smiled deviously.

He cleared his throat and folded his arms looking straight at her which proved to be a bad idea. "Well, not really, but I don't know you very well."

"What else do you wish to know? I can tell you anything you want to know. Ask me anything, Kal. _Anything_."

"I, uh, have nothing to ask at the moment."

Diana got up and grabbed his hand to pull him closer to her body, "so what is stopping you?"

"I want to respect you Diana and you've never done this before."

"You have not either unless you're lying to me?" she smirked as she sat back down on the sofa and he followed carefully.

"Why does it have to be me? Why not any other man on the island or any other man in the universe? Why me, Diana?" He fiddled with his thumbs as his anxiety was starting to kick in. Of course he wanted to touch Diana everywhere and kiss her even more, but it was just easier to stay away from her. He didn't want to do something wrong and hurt her or have her mother find out. That would be the worst thing he could imagine. Since he had proposed his idea of installing electricity on the island, he didn't want to mess it up with the Queen. He valued mothers' opinions and he knew that Diana's mother did not really take a liking to any male, so that made him extra nervous to touch or even be around Diana for that matter.

Diana touched the side of his face and chuckled, "I like you, Kryptonian. We are so different, but we seem to balance one another out I feel like."

"You don't say?" he half smiled.

She then grabbed his cheeks with her two fingers and turned his face towards her. She had a devious smile and he was only looking at her eyes, which were equally as devious.

"You don't deny the Princess of Themyscira, Warrior of the Amazons, Kal."

"What happens if the princess doesn't get what she wants then?"

Diana skimmed her hand up his leg and stopped at his crotch, "you don't want to know what happens to those people, Kal," she smiled.

At that moment Kal got the picture and he scooted away from her a bit and that move irritated Diana, he could tell immediately. She grabbed him and threw him onto the ground while she laid on top of him.

"Why do you refuse such a desired request? Are you not a normal male? Do you not want to lay with me, Kal? Have I repulsed you in some way or perhaps you are laying with another woman back on Krypton?" Her eyes looking directly through his soul and had an apparent frown upon her face.

He breathed deeply as he looked into Diana's eyes. "I have no woman on Krypton, Diana. That is not the reason why I keep refusing to do this. I would of course want to, who wouldn't it, let's be honest here."

"Then what is your pathetic reason?!" Her body crushing his harder which seemed to have no effect on him whatsoever.

Kal took Diana by her arms and lifted her off his body and back onto the sofa and she folded her arms irritated that he moved her. She was rather enjoying that moment a little bit.

"Your mother scares me."

Diana blinked and her face was blank and unreadable. Just then she started busting out laughing and held her head in her hands continuing to laugh.

Kal sighed, "What's so funny? I was being serious!"

As Diana's laughing came to an end she took a deep breath in and exhaled slowing her heart rate down. She slapped Kal on the arm and he stood up a little annoyed that she would think that matter was hilarious on its own.

"You are humorous, Kal. I have not laughed like that in quite a long time, that was a good one."

"Well I'm glad you think that this is funny because I don't think it's very funny at all," he turned his back on her.

Diana calmed herself down and came behind him hugging him with her arms, "my mother is not here is she? She is not my keeper and does not own me."

"Technically..."

"Shut up Kal." She came around to face him and she smiled touching his face with her hands. "Pretend I have no mother and allow me to be your lover for one night. I will be your Kryptonian experiment."

"you are making this very difficult for me, princess," Kal let out an exasperated sigh.

Diana leaned against his body and they fell onto the sofa and she came inches away from his face looking into his eyes with a smile on her lips.

"Then why don't you make it _un_-difficult?" She leaned down and slowly kissed him on the lips and then his neck making her way down to his chest. She ripped open his shirt and threw it aside and continued to kiss his skin.

Sitting up she slipped off her dress which revealed her perfect bronzed skin and her wild raven hair tumbling down her front and backside. Her abdomen perfectly toned but yet still feminine. Kal couldn't look away now that he had that staring straight in his face. Diana leaned down with her skin touching his warm body and she kissed his nose gingerly.

"I am just one of your experiments, " she whispered sensually. "you must have a dark side to you, Kal. I can tell," she was taunting him and slowly it was working.

Kal grabbed her body and flipped her over and she was on her back. Her immense shock brought a smile to his face. Throwing his pants to the side he was able to touch body to body, skin to skin. It wasn't like he hadn't thought of doing this the first time he met her, but he hadn't known that she was so willing to have sex. He wasn't the type of person to just have sex with any beautiful woman that came near him, but with Diana, she was allowing it and he didn't seem to mind. Although in the back of his mind he felt like this was the wrong thing to do. All the wrong things in life seemed to be the most desirable and Diana was one of those 'wrong desirable' things.

"Are you sure you're alright with this?" Kal asked as both were breathing heavily and he kissed her neck following with the palms of her hands.

"Test me," she smiled in response.

* * *

A week later Diana was laying in her bed and slept into the late morning. She yawned and got up from her bed completely naked and watched her sisters preparing for the day. Her version of sleeping in late was definitely different than others as the sun was just beginning to rise.

Suddenly she felt arms around her waist and she was thrown onto the bed.

"I should be getting ready, you know," Diana teased.

Kal smiled and kissed her forehead, "as should I, but you get up rather early. You need some time off."

Diana pushed him off of her body and she got up from her bed, "Kal, seriously, I need to get ready before my mother wonders where I am." She began grabbing her towel to get ready to shower.

He sat on the bed and was admiring her body. The sunlight reflecting on her body was hitting all the right spots.

"Just one more time," he begged.

"Again? That will be the fifth time this morning, Kal! My sisters will begin to worry about me," she smiled and threw her towel onto a nearby chair.

Kal got up from the princess's bed and grabbed her by the waist once more, "they can wait."

An hour later Diana emerged from her bedroom and was just putting earrings in her ears. All the Amazons in the hall said hello to her and she didn't even realize they were talking to her. She continued to walk into the dining hall with a huge smile on her face. She sat down at the table and was facing her mother on the opposite side of the table.

Hippolyta raised an eyebrow at her daughter. "You're late, Diana. Where have you been? You were supposed to be on the training grounds an hour ago. The students are waiting for you."

Diana grabbed a fig and some bread setting them on her plate. She poured herself a glass of water and smiled. Lifting her eyes she saw her mother had stopped eating and was staring at her intensely.

"What?"

"You are acting strange. This is the third time this week you have been late for your duties. What is the matter with you?"

Diana took a bite out of her bread and smiled, "I have just been having the most wondrous dreams lately I can hardly wake up from them."

Hippolyta laced her fingers together and suspiciously eyed her daughter. She had never seen her daughter act this way, not at all.

"Dreams you say? What did these dreams consist of?" Hippolyta asked taking a sip from her glass of water.

Diana put her legs on top of the table and crossed her feet and leaned back in the chair.

"Diana, your manners," her mother chided.

Diana rolled her eyes and took her legs off of the table and continued to eat her fruit, "dreams that I cannot describe to you, mother. Morpheus has truly blessed me these past few days."

"Indeed he has."

"Well," Diana finished her plate and drank the rest of her water, "I must be off mother. I will see you later in the evening for dinner." She got up to leave the room in a hurry.

Hippolyta called out, "I will be looking forward to it."

Diana paused in her step, but continued as the silence faded out.

As Diana left the room Hippolyta turned to Phillipus, her trusted friend and one of the best royal guards. "I want you to keep an eye on her today, Phillipus. Follow her every move, but do not make your presence known."

Phillipus nodded, "of course my Queen."

* * *

In one of the science classes that the students were required to take Richard Grayson shared a table with Kal-El. Richard noticed that his table partner was very good at retaining information and acing all of the exams given. He too was gifted in this talent, but always seemed to miss a few questions. Kal never missed a question.

Once the class was dismissed for the day Kal got up and was heading up to his suite to change into some combat gear for the next class that was held outside. He had only hoped that Diana would be teaching this class this time. She didn't really teach afternoon classes, but he can only wish.

Richard Grayson caught up with Kal and tapped him on the shoulder, "hey I noticed that you are really smart. You never miss a question on any exam. How do you do it?"

Kal was taken aback at this young man. He knew that he sat next to him in the majority of his classes, but they never spoke a word.

"Well, um, where I come from science is almost like a religion. I am skilled in all types of science so I suppose it comes naturally. You don't do too bad yourself uh.."

"Richard, but you can call me Dick if you'd like. Do you think we could study together some time?" Dick hoped that the Kryptonian prince would agree.

Kal thought this over. He realized that he was one of the brightest ones in this program, but that wasn't hard to compete with. If he agreed to this then this would mean less time with Diana especially in bed. He thought this over a lot before answering the young man's question.

"Are you sure we will both have time to study together? I mean, these Amazons sure keep everyone pretty occupied." Kal smiled.

Dick nodded, "indeed you have a point, but I would love to study with you some time. Just get back to me tomorrow about it, okay?" He treaded off to his own suite to change for his pottery class that would take place within the hour.

Kal shook his head and continued on to his room to change.

* * *

Diana had finished her afternoon duties and went into the library to find out more information about Antiope. So far she hadn't had much luck since the siren, Thalassa, gave her a bit of useful information. She thought it was strange that the sirens knew who Antiope was and didn't say a word about her. She also thought it strange that her mother would keep this a secret from her and everyone on the island.

Grabbing a few books off the shelf in the history section she found about three books on Themyscira. Finding a secluded corner of the library she sat down and opened a book and began to start reading. Her reading comprehension skills were impeccable and she could memorize information quickly.

She knew that Kal wanted to help her find out what really happened to her mother's sister not just for herself but for maybe for the rest of island. Diana also wanted to know why the Bana were the major enemies of the rest of the amazons. Nothing really made any sense, but she wanted to know more. Kal wasn't really much use to her as he didn't live here and didn't know anything about the Amazon's past.

Two hours went by quickly and she noticed that the library wasn't crowded anymore and the sun was beginning to set. She had finished one book in two hours and half of another book. So far she hadn't found anything useful. Diana wasn't beginning to wonder if this was even worth her investing her time into something that might not even be a big problem.

She flew into her bedroom window and began unclothing herself. She wasn't really tired but she figured it'd be nice just to lay in bed and do nothing for awhile until she fell asleep.

"Going to bed so early, princess?" Kal appeared at her window and Diana swiftly turned around.

"Kal, I'm changing!" She covered her body.

He laughed, "wow, I just saw you naked a few hours ago and now you're afraid to be unsheathed in front of me. You are funny."

"It's not the same!" She covered herself with the sheets from her bed.

"Isn't it though?" He snuggled up close to her body and kissed her arm and then made his way to her thighs.

"Kal, you really need to stop..." Diana closed her eyes feeling his lips against her skin.

"Do you have anywhere to be?" He slyly asked.

Suddenly a knock came to Diana's door and she pushed Kal off her bed and he fell to the floor.

"Get under the bed!" She hit him on the arm and he groaned but obeyed. "Come in," she covered her naked body with her silky sheets.

It was Hippolyta who knocked and she walked into her daughter's room eyeing everything. She saw her daughter was already in bed which was extremely unlike her.

"Going to bed so soon, daughter?"

"Yes, I'm sooo tired," Diana faked yawned.

Hippolyta looked around her daughter's room and there were clothes scattered everywhere, including towels, shoes and weapons on the floor.

"Why is your room such a disaster? Have you not sent your clothes to Mena to be washed yet?" She picked up one of Diana's dresses that looked like it had been laying there for more than a week. Then she tossed some remaining clothing off a nearby chair onto the floor and sat down smiling and stared at her daughter.

"so, what brings you to my room, mother?" Diana asked hoping that she would leave, but she knew that her mother wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Kal was under the bed and could see Diana's mother's shoes. He figured that she would be sitting in that chair across from the bed. Sighing softly he shook his head. This might take awhile, he thought.

"I just wanted to visit with you, what's the harm in that?" Hippolyta smiled. "We hardly spend any time together lately and I want to start now."

Diana knew that her mother was up to something and she didn't know what it was, but it couldn't be good. She never came to her room, especially at night just to 'visit'.

"Right now? Couldn't we do this another time? Morpheus is calling my name," Diana nervously grinned at her mother.

Hippolyta crossed her legs carefully and began to relax in the large chair. She could tell that her appearance was making her daughter very uncomfortable. Good, it's working, she thought to herself.

"So you have been in a cheerful mood for the past week, Diana. You say you have been having wonderful dreams. Care to share?"

"I tend to forget them immediately when I wake up," Diana nodded and stared directly at her mother.

Hippolyta's smile turned into a frown and she stood up from the chair searching her daughter's room.

"Mother, what are you doing? Excuse me, those bows are not yours!" Diana got up and wrapped the sheet around her body as she was trying to stop her mother from snooping.

"Where are you hiding him?" Her irate mother asked as she continued to look through her daughter's belongings.

Diana's heart stopped for a moment, but she needed to play this off. "Who? What are you talking about?"

Hippolyta turned around and glared at Diana. "the Kryptonian prince. Where is he? I know you have him in here!" She picked up a few more weapons from her shelves and then opened her wardrobe closet and started looking through her clothes.

"Mother, stop it! He isn't here!"

The Queen mother turned and pinched her daughter's upper arm hard enough so Diana could feel it.

"Ouch! Mother, what in Hades is wrong with you?" Diana rubbed her arm.

"Tell me where he is or I will send you to solitary confinement and a week's worth of guard duty on the Bana Mighdall's side of the island."

Diana narrowed her eyebrows and didn't say a word. She could tell that her mother was becoming more irritated the more silent she remained.

"Fine. Solitary confinement it is," with those last words, Hippolyta left the room and Diana flopped down onto her bed.

Kal came out from under the bed and sat next to Diana wrapping his arm around her.

"I just got you in trouble. Why didn't you just tell her where I was?"

Diana sighed, "because it is better that I suffer the consequences instead of you, Kal. For all we know, my mother could tell your parents. As long as I keep quiet and stick with my punishment, nothing else can go wrong and everything will go back to normal."

"I did not want to get you into trouble. I told you your mother is scary," he joked.

Diana didn't find that funny and she got up from her bed and wandered into her bathroom getting ready for a bath. "It was my fault for even letting you come into my room. I am probably being spied on. Perhaps we shouldn't be in such closer proximities, Kal."

"So back to sneaking around again, eh?" Kal said. "No worries, I can wait. After all, you know where to find me. I'll be at our favorite place." He flew out of the large window and Diana hit the wall and closed the curtain getting ready for her bath.

* * *

**AN: and it continues! I know that I keep hinting at Antiope and not revealing much information but it remains important later on in the story. Enjoy :)**


	10. Chapter 10

Rules and Games

Diana brought a bag of books with her as she was making her way to the Bana Mighdall gates on the other side of the island. She wasn't looking forward to staying here for a week, but luckily her mother was lenient on her and decided not to put her in solitary confinement for a few days. Diana finally guessed that maybe her mother knew that she was being too strict with her only daughter. She had found out later that someone had been spying on her all day yesterday and that person must have seen Kal come into her room in the evening. Diana had a good idea who that someone was -Phillipus. Phillipus was her mother's best long time friend and also Diana's second mother in a strange sort of way.

Every time when Hippolyta couldn't be there for Diana, Phillipus would stay with Diana and entertain her. She also trained Diana in hand to hand combat many times and taught her how to read at a very young age. The more Diana thought about her mother, the more she started feel angry that she never was really there for her in her childhood.

As she approached closer to the gate she saw Penelope was at guard duty and looked a little bit aggravated to see Diana. She was tapping her foot and had her arms folded, not looking impressed at all.

"You're late, princess. I have been waiting for over an hour for you to arrive!" Penelope groaned.

Diana smiled and set down her bag of many books. "Sorry sister, I was in the library picking out a few books to read while I am on guard duty."

"Good luck reading that. This gate needs to be monitored very closely at all times. Someone will come relieve you for the evening shift as the Queen requested." Penelope gathered her sword and shield and started to walk off. "Oh won't you be needing a shield and sword, princess?"

Diana shook her head, "if anything happens I can handle myself. I am a far superior fighter compared to these Bana harpies," she smirked.

"_of_ _course_ you are, have a nice day, princess," Penelope rolled her eyes as she turned to walk away back to the palace square.

Diana sat down on a stool and opened a book and began munching an apple to make the time go by quickly. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad, staying here and studying for awhile. Although she thought a week was a bit too much. She could guess that her mother would be handling all of her duties including Queen duties as well. She smiled at that thought. She will be very busy indeed.

* * *

Kal was in his suite studying on philosophy. He enjoyed this subject even though on his planet his people wouldn't be able to comprehend or understand why the Amazons were so enthralled with a subject such as this. He thought of it as a tool to enhance the mind and require a person to think critically about the world around them.

Closing the book he sighed and leaned against his headboard on the bed. He felt awful for getting Diana in trouble. In his mind he could've just sped out of the room, but that would definitely not go well as he figured Hippolyta would notice. She noticed everything it seemed and that reminded him of his own mother. Mothers know everything that went on even though they never make it seem like they do.

Smiling, he thought of being in bed with Diana. He really enjoyed this type of relationship with her. He never expected to have this sort of relationship with an Amazon, especially the Amazon Princess. Then it started to sink in that he wouldn't be around her for a whole week. Sure they hadn't been doing 'this' for a long time, but they'd been together for every night for the last week and the thought of not having her in bed with him was saddening to him. It was nice to have to not think about her as marriage material or even as a lover, just to have sex was enough for him. Neither of them have had sex with anyone before so he only supposed that the separation was going to be harder for him than for her.

Kal often thought of how many deep conversations he had with Diana and that was something else he liked about her. He could talk about his life on Krypton without judgment and she could do the same about her life on Themyscira as a princess. Both recognized that their lives weren't as different as it appeared and were able to talk freely about everything with no strings attached. Although they hadn't been doing much talking lately, but just the thought of sharing information freely was comforting to Kal. He hoped Diana felt the same way he did.

Sighing he sat up and thought about his idea about installing electricity on the island with Kryptonian technology. He would have to contact his parents and possibly go to Krypton to get the needed materials. He didn't really want to talk to his parents and he hadn't seen them in over a month since he came here. His parents knew that he was a responsible person, but they were worried, he was sure of it. Or maybe they aren't worried at all. Shaking his head he exited his room and left the building to make his way to the library that was not too far away. The day was just beginning and he had about two hours before his next class, which would be blacksmithing. He enjoyed that class too along with all the others. Being on Themyscira, Kal felt that he had become a more educated being and learned a new culture. This made him feel important and that he actually had a purpose in his life besides his life on Krypton.

He loved Krypton, but it tended to get boring if things did not go his way and they always stuck to the same routine. The Amazons had a schedule too but it was more free and their way of life would be considered archaic to his people, but that is what made it so interesting to him.

Finally in the library he went to the mythology section, which he came to find out that it wasn't mythology at all. He was still skeptical about the Olympians, but he didn't say anything especially when Diana talked about going to pray at a temple on the island. As he went to that section he noticed that three books were gone and he raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, off to the science section then," he made his way over to the next aisle.

Finding a few books that looked interesting to him wasn't that hard, but he wanted to read a select few. He had his eye on two books since he came into the library a few weeks ago. He noticed that both of those books were gone.

He groaned, "what the hell. Who would pick those specific books?" He grumbled to himself and other Amazons stared at him very confused.

Making his way over to the book keeper he sighed. "Excuse me do you have the Art of Medicine and Astronomy. I've had my eye on those books for awhile and they're gone now."

Yasmine opened a large book that had all the people who checked out books for the past year. Her finger scrolled down to today and she shook her head.

"I'm sorry sir, the books were checked out early this morning by someone else."

"May I ask by who?" He only wanted to see if he could ask this person how long they'd be with those two books.

"Princess Diana."

Of course she would check out those same books on the day he wanted to read them. Trying not to hide his facial expression he nodded. "Thank you very much. I'll check back in for them at a later date."

Yasmine called out, "Princess Diana does not take long to read, I am sure she'll be done with them by tomorrow," she smiled.

Kal nodded and half smiled as he left the library. He wondered if anyone else on the island knew about him and Diana. He was starting to feel paranoid about everybody now, especially the Queen. He knew that she didn't really like him for being around Diana, but maybe she didn't know they were sharing a bed together or maybe she did. Whatever she knew, he didn't want to know or even come face to face with her any time soon.

As he made his way to the palace square he nodded and said hello to everyone passing by. He often thought of that Siren Den that Diana took him to a week ago. Although it did creep him out, it was quite beautiful and Diana was able to get some information about Hippolyta's younger sister. Kal thought about that night for several reasons. One for the place it was, and how intimate it was with them in the room together and Antiope. He knew that Diana often thought about Antiope and why she was such a massive secret to everyone except a select few. He was thinking to himself that he should go back there by himself to try and get more information about her.

Dick Grayson caught Kal walking ahead of him and he smiled running to catch up to him. He put a hand on his shoulder, "hey, remember me?"

Kal was taken aback and stopped to greet the young man. "Hello, yes I do remember you. Dick, right?"

He nodded, "Right! You never got back to me about studying together. I understand though, it gets very busy around here. Almost chaotic."

Kal nodded his head. This man was very persistent and he admired him for that. "Yes I'm sorry about that. Things got a little busy for me yesterday."

Dick understood that. He didn't want to pester the prince, but he really wanted to spend some time with him. "So did you hear what Queen Hippolyta might do?"

Kal hadn't heard any news as his thoughts were elsewhere. Diana was in his thoughts of course. "No I haven't."

"She is thinking about allowing females to come to Themyscira to study. Kind of like the program for men that is going on currently."

Kal wondered why Hippolyta didn't do this sooner. It could really help some spoiled brats out there. Perhaps some women from Krypton would be able to come here and experience some culture in their dull lives.

"That sounds like a very good idea. I hope that she decides to let women come to the island. It would be very beneficial to them and the Amazons to meet other women. They are all about helping people, especially women."

"Indeed. I definitely agree! I would enjoy some more women on this island besides the Amazons if you know what I mean," Dick had a sly smile on his face saying this.

Kal almost started to laugh, but hid it well with a grin. "The Amazon women are very beautiful here."

Dick nodded, "yes they are! What man wouldn't want to come here?!" He cleared his throat, "anyway, so about studying. Are you free tonight? I don't want to keep bothering you."

"You are not bothering me and yes I am free tonight," of course he is. He doesn't have Diana in bed with him tonight. "We can study after dinner, is that alright with you?"

"Yes! Thank you so much, I'll meet you at your suite and we can study there. I need to get going. I have combat practice with a new instructor. Have you seen the princess? She's usually teaching in the afternoons."

Yes I know where she is, but I'm definitely not going to reveal that to anybody as it is her punishment, Kal thought. He shook his head, "sorry I don't know. Perhaps she's busy with her mother."

Dick shrugged, "royal duties, what are ya gonna do?" He smiled and ran off to the training grounds.

* * *

Diana closed her book as she was finished and sighed. It had not even reached lunch time and she was beginning to grow bored of this job. She didn't know how Penelope and the others did this job. Standing up to stretch her legs she walked around in front of the gate pacing back and forth to relieve her boredom. How could she do this for an entire week? Diana groaned and sat back down on the stool with her fist beneath her chin staring off into the forest. There was nothing but forest around this part of the island.

Five minutes passed by and Diana groaned. Time was going to go by very slow and she didn't feel like reading another book right now as she had read them all at least twice already.

Just as her boredom was getting the best of her she heard talking on the other side of the gate and she furrowed her eyebrows. The gate doors were made of stone and couldn't nobody could peek through them whatsoever. Diana lifted off the ground slowly and peeked her head over the gate and saw two Bana Amazons standing about a yard away from the gate. She didn't really think that the Bana would get so close to this gate and it was hardly opened unless for specific reasons and those reasons would be requests by her mother.

Diana's ears perked up as she was cluing into the women's conversation. They were whispering as they knew that guards would be on the other side of the gate. Although they didn't know that the princess of the Amazons was standing guard there.

"We should go to the Siren Den tonight."

The other woman scoffed, "really? I don't really like those Sirens that much. They're a bunch of harlots and talk shit about us. _Malakah_."

"They have good wine though and who cares? They won't say anything as long as we're in the room."

She nodded, "You're right, but I still don't like those scaly bitches. Maybe we should ask Artemis to go with us. She would set those wannabe mermaids in their place."

The other laughed, "That is for sure, sister! We don't need her though, we can take care of ourselves."

"this is true. There is some gossip going around that the princess is bedding the Kryptonian."

The blonde woman scoffed, "I am not surprised. That princess is a horrible representation of the Amazons and her mother. Although her mother is no better than she."

"It is as if her mother thinks that the poor princess will die of a disease if she beds a man."

Both women snickered.

Diana frowned at the two women as they both carried on their conversation. They had no idea that she was standing right there. She wondered how many horrible things that the Bana said about her and her mother. She figured that the guards heard a lot and just didn't say anything about it as they'd probably dismiss the chatter.

She set her feet back on the ground and sighed. She didn't wish to listen anymore, not that she cared or anything, but they don't have the right to talk badly about her and the Queen of the Amazons. Diana folded her arms and leaned against the stone gate doors. So many hours ahead of her and yet this job was getting more boring the more she stood there.

As the sun was starting to set Diana had drifted off into a light sleep and was woken up by rustling bushes behind the gate. She opened her eyes and stood up instantly. Her ears heard more rustling and she looked around to see if anyone was there, but nobody was present.

Looking over the gate again she saw those two women that were chatting earlier and three others following them. Diana narrowed her eyes as she watched the five of them make their way down a dark alley way that was a few feet away from the gates.

she was wondering how they were going to get to the Siren Den since their entire side of the island was blocked off by a very tall stone wall. Diana set back down and began on foot silently. She clung close to the stone wall and was listening to the sound of the women's footsteps on the other side of the wall. Suddenly the noise stopped and she heard nothing. She slid down the side of the wall and then saw a sandal on top of the wall and one woman was trying to climb over the wall.

Diana backed away into the trees and watched a few feet away. One of the women jumped over and looked side to side and saw no one near. She gestured to the others with a whistle and others followed, climbing over the wall. Diana's mouth gaped. She couldn't believe that the guards wouldn't be able to notice that these Bana could easily get over the wall. Diana was beginning to wonder how often they did this and how stupid the guards must be to let this go unnoticed.

Once all five made it over the wall they crept silently against the wall and away from any light nearby. Diana came out of the trees and followed them behind like an assassin.

Diana was a foot away from the last woman in their little escapee line. She put her hand over the woman's mouth and pressed on her neck at a sensitive pressure point. Instantly she knocked out and her body became limp. She dragged off the woman and set her in the trees trying to be as silent as possible.

The leader of the women halted and her ears perked up and she listened intently.

"We are not alone, sisters."

Diana sped towards them and knocked out two more women and drug them off into the dark forest. There were now two women left and they stood back to back now. Both looked around and saw nobody in sight.

"I thought you said that you do this all the time?" The dark skinned Bana said quietly.

"I do. Those guards are too stupid to catch us," the blonde woman stated.

Diana came out of the darkness and smiled, "are you calling me stupid, sister?"

Both women scowled, "you! what are you doing here?"

"Luckily for you I am guarding the Bana gate for awhile. You may be able to get passed the others, but you won't get passed me." Diana knocked both down with a swift kick and uppercut punch to the jaw of the blonde. Both lay on the ground semi conscious.

Layla came to relieve Diana of her duties and she saw the princess was tying two women up with a rope.

"Princess, what has happened?"

Diana picked up the two women with ease and lifted in the air, "ah you have come for the evening shift. I suggest you keep a better eye on this gate. These women tried to escape and I am taking them to my mother right now. Also there are three women passed out back in the forest down that way." she pointed to the right of her, "Happy guarding, sister," she smiled and flew off to the palace leaving Layla very confused.

Once she arrived into the palace with two women in her arms still a bit dazed. The guards looked at her with concern. Diana paid no attention to them and went immediately into the throne room.

She found her mother sitting on her throne talking with Phillipus and reading over a few changes she was planning to make within the next month. Hippolyta glanced up to see her daughter carrying two women who appeared to be Bana and she set aside her scroll and stood up.

"Diana, what is the meaning of this?"

Diana threw the two women on the marble floor. "These two were trying to escape from the Bana walls. I caught them. The others are knocked out in the forest near the gate as well. I told Layla about those three and hopefully she'll deal with them, but I suggest backup." she folded her arms and frowned.

Hippolyta told Phillipus to send a few Amazons out that way to help contain the women.

"Well, that is very unfortunate to my ears. Thank you for bringing them here, daughter."

"I can see you will handle it from here so I will retire to my room now, goodnight mother," with that Diana left swiftly to her bedroom.

Once there she closed the door and flopped onto her bed. Even though today was not very eventful she felt very tired for no reason. It seems her days training and teaching were less trying than guarding a damn gate all day. As she began to take off her clothes and run a bath for herself she couldn't help but think that Kal wouldn't be showing up at her window now.

Diana was going to miss that for awhile and they definitely had to be more careful about how they saw each other from now on.

* * *

An hour later Diana was towel drying her hair and she wore a short white gown. That was the best excitement she had all day and now she was pumped to do more, but for now she'll just have to relax. She figured that maybe taking a walk would relax her body so she flew out the window and touched the ground with bare feet.

It wasn't late at all and she wanted to skip dinner with her mother tonight. She didn't want to converse with her at all especially if her mother might ask about Kal. She walked into the royal gardens and sat down on the same bench that Kal and her sat on awhile back. She smiled thinking of him and wished he were there with her in that moment.

Kal had finished talking with Dick half an hour ago and he really liked talking to him, but he was beginning to get annoyed by the guy. He talked a lot, but he admired his spirit. He seemed very passionate about history and expressed that back home he did a lot of detective work on the side with the police department. Kal noticed that Dick was very intelligent, but perhaps he needed to channel it elsewhere instead of being here on Themyscira. He didn't get the chance to ask him why he wanted to come to this island in the first place. He was sure that he would find out later from Dick.

He took a walk in the royal gardens just get his mind off everything from today. Working with the blacksmith wasn't difficult and he was able to pick up the skill quicker than anyone there, but it wasn't so easy as the woman made it look. As he walked further into the gardens he smelled something pleasant. It smelled like vanilla and he knew that smell.

Speeding up he saw that Diana was sitting by herself on the bench they sat on together. A smile came to his face. He looked around to make sure nobody was watching and nobody was in sight.

"Are you spending the evening by yourself, princess?" he announced.

Diana turned around recognizing that voice anywhere. She stood up and looked around cautiously. "Kal, what are you doing here?" she whispered.

"I was trying to clear my mind that's all. What are you doing here?" he smiled.

"you are going to get me in trouble again!" Diana whispered again.

He shrugged his shoulders, "well, I won't tell if you won't."

Diana came closer to him and slapped him on the chest playfully. "That isn't funny Kal. Seriously though I am already in enough trouble with my mother as it is. Today I heard from two Bana women that they know about us being together."

Wow news travels fast here, Kal thought. He wasn't really surprised though. "do you have to make it sound like such a bad thing?" He joked.

She folded her arms, "Kal! I am probably known as the island's whore right now."

He scoffed, "oh right. Like the other Amazons don't have sex with the other male students. I know what I saw back in Bengal village, Diana. They aren't innocent."

Diana knew that, but it was different for her. "It isn't the same. I am supposed to be the pure princess. A representation of my people and now everyone knows."

"Does it matter though?"

She pursed her lips, "I don't know. It was my idea after all. I pressured you."

"You can't deny that you don't miss being around me." He smirked proudly.

"I am not a good liar, so you know I can't lie about that," Diana took a hold of his hand and squeezed it tightly.

"So we can't just disappear somewhere and you know...?" Kal asked hopeful.

Diana smiled, "perhaps, but not for a long time. If I know my mother, she'll send a search party out for me."

He laughed, "that's a good one." They began walking deeper into the gardens together.

"I was being serious." she said as they continued on.

* * *

**AN: Kryptonian stuff next! Enjoy everyone :)  
malakah = harlot**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: sorry I accidentally posted the wrong chapter from a different story. They're under the same name lol**

A Wonderful Place

Today was Diana's last day guarding the Bana gate. Now she had another woman guarding with her including others that were spread across the Bana boarders every six yards around the perimeter. After Diana took the two Bana escapees to her mother, Hippolyta assigned them palace duty in the back of the royal kitchen, cleaning dishes and doing laundry for two weeks. Diana figured that those punishments were not enough, but they were enough for the Bana because they couldn't stand being in the same home as the Queen and Princess. Those would be the longest two weeks of their lives. Hippolyta had also sent a messenger inside the Bana gates with a few guards to tell Artemis that some of her women had escaped. Once she had heard nothing from the Bana leader, she knew that she was either ignoring the situation or was planning to have a face to face meeting with her.

Diana was counting down the hours until her shift would be over. She sighed as the leaned against the gate. Her guard mate, Jeane, was standing still for almost four hours straight. Diana looked over at her and saw she didn't blink an eye.

"Do you always act so serious on guard duty, Jean?" Diana folded her arms and smirked.

"Not all of us possess the powers that you do princess."

Diana shrugged her shoulders, "fair enough. Let us play a game then."

"I don't think that is wise, princess."

"You are no fun at all." Diana leaned off the gate and sat down on the ground grabbing an apple to snack on. "Do you want one, I brought an extra?"

Jean shook her head, "thank you, princess, that is kind of you but I am not hungry right now."

* * *

Kal had finished yet another blacksmithing class. He told Queen Hippolyta that he would not be able to make it to the rest of the classes today because he decided to go back to Krypton to pick up a few supplies for his new invention for Themyscira. She agreed and he was going back to his room to take a shower and leave in the evening so he could arrive on Krypton in the morning. He hadn't told Diana he was leaving today and he was sure that she'd be upset over that even though they had only seen each other twice over the last week.

* * *

Later in the day it was almost time for Diana to be released from guard duty. She was watching the sun as it was finally setting. She was getting more anxious just as she was a few minutes away from being free.

She stared intensely at the sunset and her hands were fidgeting.

"I see that you are anxious to be relieved from guard duty, princess," Jean said.

"I cannot stand this job, it is utterly boring and I miss my other jobs I have on this island."

Jean nodded her head, "indeed. You are quite good at martial arts and showing our students how to fight."

As the sun finally set Diana exhaled heavily and smiled. "Finally! I shall see you later, sister." She gave Jean a hug and left for the palace immediately.

Diana just entered the palace and saw her mother talking to Kal in her throne room. She backed up and looked inside at them two. She couldn't hear what they saying very well so she decided to make her presence known. As she sauntered in smiling she glanced over at her mother who was now making direct eye contact with her now.

"Hello Diana, I see you are happy to be released from your duties." Hippolyta said with a deadpan face.

"Yes of course mother. I have finished your task and will be back to work tomorrow morning." Diana looked over at Kal, "oh I didn't see you there Kal. What are you doing here?" She smiled.

Hippolyta tried not to roll her eyes at her daughter's very obvious flirting.

Kal was nervous around the Queen and he didn't want to say anything wrong to upset her either. "Well, I am leaving to go back to Krypton to get supplies so I can install electricity on Themyscira."

"You're leaving today? How long will you stay there?" Diana really was a horrible liar and her mother knew that she was just playing an act.

"Probably a few days, a week at most," Kal looked over at Hippolyta and cleared his throat. "I have to get going now. I will see you all soon."

Diana called out as Kal was leaving, "how are you getting there?"

Hippolyta cut in this time, "one of our sisters is taking him back with your jet."

"_My_ jet?" Diana asked.

Hippolyta nodded. "It is the safest one, Diana."

Diana smirked and folded her arms, "I am the only one who is most capable of flying that jet. Perhaps I shall accompany him on his trip back to Krypton."

Kal could feel his face flush in color, "I don't think that would be necessary, princess."

"He is right, Diana. It is best that you stay here. Did you not just finish guard duty due to your irresponsibility's?"

Diana frowned at her mother, "Let me prove you wrong then mother. I shall be on my best behavior. I will even let Kal-El's parents take notes if you wish." She was playing a game with her mother and Hippolyta knew it too.

Even though Hippolyta didn't want Diana to go and she knew if she'd say no, she would go anyway and if she said yes then she'd be giving into Diana's little game.

"At least I know that you won't be attending any parties or late night activities on Krypton," Hippolyta gave in and she had a prominent frown on her face.

Diana smiled, "of course not mother. I will be back within a few days. Besides, he will need help moving and collecting supplies."

"Of course, what was I thinking?" she sarcastically answered and then exited the room shaking her head at her daughter.

* * *

Kal and Diana stepped board onto the jet and Diana sat down in the pilot seat, closing the hangar.

"Are you crazy or something?" Kal asked, sitting next to her in one of the passenger seats.

"No, I'm not. I am just ambitious. I told you I get what I want Kal. My mother caved only knowing that I would come along your little trip anyway." She flipped a few switches and the jet started. She looked beside her and he wasn't buckled up yet. "Excuse me, safety first Kal." Diana gestured to the seat belts.

Kal buckled himself in, "you really are a spoiled princess, you know that? Please don't act like that around my parents," he sighed.

Diana lifted off slowly making sure there was nobody near the jet. "I will just be myself, Kal, don't you worry."

"That is what I am worried about," he muttered.

"What was that?" Diana asked.

"Nothing..."

An hour later Diana set the jet into autopilot and she unbuckled her seatbelt and swiveled her chair towards Kal who was intently looking into the open dark atmosphere.

"So, Kal, do you want to play a game? It'll take us a few hours before we get to Krypton."

Kal looked at her and she had a dark mischievous look in her eyes that he had seen before. He wasn't sure what exactly sure about what was going on inside that little head of hers but he knew it wasn't good.

"What kind of game?" he asked innocently, trying to play it casual.

Diana got out of her seat and sat on Kal's lap and she ran her fingers through his hair gently. "oh you know, that game that we always play, when _nobody's_ around" she gestured to the empty aircraft. She was getting closer to him and started kissing his neck.

Kal was growing more uncomfortable the more she sat on him. He gently pushed her face away from his. "I don't think I can do this, not when I am about to go see my parents."

"Why not?" she frowned.

He sighed, "you don't understand. My parents, my home, is very different from yours. What we _do_ isn't the normal over there and I have to set my mind up for that and that is very difficult for me to do with you sitting on my lap."

"Then why resist something that is right in front of you?" Diana smiled and bent her head down closing to his lips. Although when he abruptly turned away her eyes grew in shock and she got off of him immediately.

"I'm sorry Diana, it's not like I don't like being with you because I do, but you just...you don't understand, at least not yet anyway."

"It seems that I have grown repulsive towards you every time my mother or your parents are mentioned," Diana raised a brow sitting back down in her seat.

Kal sighed and crossed one leg over the other to keep himself occupied and distracting himself from her. "It's not like that Diana. Listen, you'll just have to see when we get to Krypton. My parents are very strict and not the 'loving' type."

Diana turned around and turned the autopilot off and stayed silent the remaining time on the jet.

* * *

After what seemed to take forever in a very awkward ride over they took the tunnel over from Earth to Krypton to make their trip shorter. They finally arrived there and Diana landed the jet and opened the hangar.

When Diana stepped outside of the aircraft she saw a very large building in front of her that had two guards standing outside. Her eyes couldn't believe the size of the building then she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Welcome to Krypton, princess, this is my home."

Diana gaped and kept staring up trying to see the top of the building until Kal took her hand to pull her inside his home. Once they were inside she noticed everything was so sterile and organized. She almost felt tempted to move something out of place to see if any one of the Els could detect it, but she resisted the urge, for now. Diana removed her laced sandals from her feet and Kal turned to see her leaning on a wall taking her shoes off.

"What are you doing?" he asked curiously.

She stared up at him, "it's rude to keep your shoes on in someone's home, Kal. Did you not learn this on Themyscira?" she smiled continuing to take off her sandals.

He shook his head and then saw his parents coming down the hall to greet him. He could see his mother smiling to finally see him after awhile of being absent from his home and family.

"Kal, so nice to see you back! We were not expecting you so early," Jor commented. Lara came up to her son and kissed him on the forehead to greet him.

"It is nice to have you back here."

"Well thank you both, but I won't be staying long, I have to return to Themyscira." Kal nodded and his parents exchanged confused looks.

Diana appeared from behind Kal and she smiled, "hello, do you remember me?"

Lara and Jor looked down and saw Diana wasn't wearing any shoes and was dressed in a short blue dress with a gold cord around her trim waist.

"Of course, Princess Diana, nice to see you again," Lara smiled and kissed Diana's cheek.

"What brings you here?" Jor asked.

"I decided to accompany Kal on his journey to Krypton to see if he needed any help, also that is my jet out there. Sorry if it is in the way, I didn't know where to land it." Diana smiled and shrugged sheepishly. She felt slightly nervous to be around Lara and Jor now that Kal and her had been spending more time together. Diana finally knew why Kal felt so nervous around her mother now. Perhaps she will not give him such a hard time about that anymore.

Lara and Jor stood there and then smiled curtly. Jor turned and started walking down the hallway. Lara started to follow and then Kal along with Diana quickly trailed behind the Els.

Lara whispered to her husband, "why isn't she wearing any shoes? Do they not have shoes on Themyscira?" she was very confused as to why Diana was barefoot in her home.

Jor whispered back, "I don't know. It must be some strange custom."

"Very strange indeed," Lara added.

They were all in the very large sitting area and the sofas were all in place. The vases were organized on the ground and were about six feet tall at least. Diana looked around at the way the building was constructed and she had never seen anything like it. Earth had its advanced technology and odd buildings, but nothing like this. There was also a large window in the room that had a great view of the red sun that was shining brightly into the room.

"You have quite a lovely home here," Diana walked around and touched the vases and sofas with her fingers. Everything felt so strange on Krypton. It didn't feel natural, but she was enjoying the experience nonetheless.

"Thank you Princess, do you want some water?" Lara offered. A robot appeared behind her and Diana's mouth gaped.

"Oh um, do you have any wine?"

"Wine? Sorry we do not have any of that, but we have some juice."

"Okay, that is fine with me," Diana nodded taking the offer of some juice. It is better than water anyway. Lara told their robotic servant to fetch some juice and three waters for everyone. "That is an interesting maid you have there."

Kal shook his head at Diana. Things were different on Krypton and it was awkward having her in the same room as his parents. Also it didn't help that she was barefoot either.

After an awkward silent moment passed Kal spoke, "so I have decided that I am going to wire Themyscira with electricity and what better way to do it than with Kryptonian technology."

Jor sat down on one of the sofas, "interesting. You have not contacted us since you disappeared during the spar with your mother. Now you want to install electricity on that Amazonian island with our technology. Why did you not inform us on this matter sooner?"

Another awkward moment filled the room. Diana spoke up for Kal, "well he asked my mother about his idea and she was very intrigued about it. She thought it was a great idea to have electricity on Themyscira. My mother can be very stubborn and I was surprised she even agreed to it. I am sure all of the Amazons will be very glad to have this grand invention." She smiled nodding her head.

Kal felt a little embarrassed now that Diana was taking up for him so easily. Both Lara and Jor stared at Kal and raised their eyebrows. This couldn't be a good thing at all.

"you spoke to the Amazon Queen about this already?" Lara addressed her son.

Kal sighed, "well yes, she had to agree first. I did not think it would be a problem considering we have so much technology and it would be great to share it with the rest of the universe."

"But you did not think that it wouldn't be wise to talk to both of us about this first?" Jor chimed in.

"I did not think it would be an issue with you both. What is the point of having our world open to others if we cannot share ideas and technology, father?" Kal was now feeling more enraged that his parents were a bit opposing to this.

"I think what your father is trying to say is that you left without even saying goodbye for longer than a month now. Now you want to give our technology to the Amazons? It seems a bit unwise if you ask me," Lara grabbed a glass of water from the servant's tray he was bringing around to everyone.

Diana grabbed the glass of juice and sat down watching Kal and his parents go back and forth. This was getting a little intense and she felt a bit responsible for this mess. She didn't know if her words would be wise right now so she kept quiet for now.

"Mother, these Amazons have shown me that their way of life is simple, but yet it is beautiful. I have learned so much in such a short amount of time. I think more Kryptonians should go into this program since they are more than qualified. I wanted to do something for them in return. Their way of life may be very archaic, but it works for them. Electricity, especially at night, would help them with their daily activities. I think it is a great idea, but if you both don't agree, then I suppose we can go back to Themyscira tomorrow." Kal sighed and sat down sipping his water.

"We are not saying that we do not agree, Kal," Jor said. "We are simply upset that you did not speak with your mother and I about it first. I appreciate you wanting to help and we should as our planet has a lot to offer to others."

Lara glanced over and saw Diana had her feet criss-crossed on the sofa and she raised an eyebrow at her. She did not understand this woman's ways, but she knew that Kal really had a liking to her. She didn't like that either. Not only is Diana from a different life, race and planet, she is also a princess and not quite the material that she wanted her son to be around.

"Thank you, it would be very helpful if you both could help me tomorrow to gather the tools I need to bring to Themyscira." Kal asked hopeful that his parents would agree.

Both Els nodded their heads and Kal was more than relieved.

"Diana, would you like a tour of my home?" he turned and saw she put her glass down on the table and stood up immediately brushing her dress from any wrinkles with her hands.

She smiled and nodded her head anxiously. They both left the room and Lara turned to her husband.

"When should we tell him?"

"Not yet. We should wait a bit when the Amazon isn't in the room."

* * *

Kal and Diana walked through a hall and she was admiring everything around her.

"Sorry about that. My parents can be a bit intimidating," he rubbed the back his neck.

"I can understand how you feel around my mother now. Sorry I had...a fit in the jet, I was just being my normal assertive self and I realize that I should respect your decisions more and maybe everyone else's as well." Diana felt bad for stepping all over Kal and her mother now that she sees his parents. She never thought about anyone else but herself. It was hard for her to think about other people, but since Kal came into her life she felt like her attitude needed to change for the better.

"Oh that, you mean a tantrum," Kal teased and he received a punch in the arm for that comment. "You really shouldn't hit people you know that?"

"It wasn't a tantrum, I was just having a moment that's all." Diana tried to cover her tracks but she wasn't fooling anyone.

"Oh is that what you call it?"

Kal came to a door and it slid open with his fingerprints. "This is my room. I know it's not like Themyscira, but this is where I grew up."

Diana stepped inside and his room was much larger than hers, but definitely not extravagant by any standards. It was rather plain and kind of boring to look at it, but yet it was beautiful in its own way, because of the way he lived.

"Your bed is larger than mine! Wow!" She plopped down on the bed, "oh but it's not very soft," she laughed. "Your room is beautiful, Kal. Look at your view of the city. It is magnificent."

Kal looked over outside at the window and smiled. He had missed his home, but being around Diana he had come to realize that he wasn't missing much. Slowly he was beginning to realize that his feelings for her were becoming more than physical attraction. He often caught himself staring at her and thinking about not just her outer beauty but her inner. Although she didn't show it often, she was a very kind person. Her attitude can be a bit much to deal with, but he didn't mind, because somehow they seemed to balance each other out.

"Kal? Why are you looking at me like that?" Diana asked, confused but with a smile on her face.

Kal caught himself and he felt his face flush, "Sorry."

"I was beginning to think there was something on my face," she chuckled.

No, definitely nothing on your face, princess, he thought.

"There you go again with that weird face!" Diana put her hands on her hips. "Either you find me irresistible or there really is something on my face." She teasingly spoke flipping her hair away from her face.

"Very funny, Diana. I'm just enjoying the view."

"Oh is that what you call it?" She mocked him.

Kal shook his head and laughed. She really was quite humorous at times without even knowing it even if she was making fun of him or mocking him.

"Let me take you away from my bedroom before something bad happens. Let us go to the greenhouse."

"Whoever said what we did was bad?" Diana got up to follow him out of his bedroom.

* * *

Hours later Diana was shown to her bedroom by that servant again. Diana wasn't really keen on a robot showing her around, she thought it was kind of creepy to be honest. She had a quick dinner with the Els and it was very awkward. Nobody at the table spoke. Entering her bedroom it was almost as large as Kal's bedroom. She was beginning to think that all the rooms were just as large. She then thought of how large Lara and Jor's bedroom was compared to this. Diana didn't even want to imagine the size of that room.

Laying down on the bed she was just down the hall from Kal and it was tempting to just sneak into his room, being so close, but tonight she was to keep her distance. So close, but yet so far, she thought. As she closed her eyes she beginning to think of the relationship between her and Kal. It was strained at first, but then it got better and it was definitely better with sex. She really liked that, but she was starting to think this relationship might turn into something more than sex. Diana wasn't all too sure if she wanted it to be more than that because it would mean that someone else in her life was just as important or more so, than herself or her mother. It didn't make it any better that Kal was a male and she was raised all her life to be weary of men and to be careful of their trickery.

Kal wouldn't dare deceive her, after all he was still here and he actually liked being around her, she could tell. He even said it in a hidden way before awhile ago. She was wondering if she should change her attitude with her mother now seeing the interaction with Kal and his parents. Her and her mother didn't have the best relationship, but most of it was her fault for being so arrogant and self righteous. Diana wanted to change her ways and become a better woman, Amazon, princess and daughter.

Closing her eyes she drifted off to sleep within minutes, leaving all of her thoughts behind her.

* * *

**AN: ah yes now the trouble is brewing! Along with some fluffiness later on :) Enjoy!**


	12. Chapter 12

My Kryptonite

Diana and Kal were in his parent's laboratory watching aside as Jor gathered a few supplies for them to take back to Themyscira. It was rather early and the sun had yet to rise. Diana was surprised that the Els got up so early in the day, but then she realized that these people were not the same as hers. She too got up early, but at least the sun was rising when she awoke.

Lara came into the room with a metal box in her hands as the door closed behind her. Passing her son and Diana she went straight for the table beside her husband.

"Have you been able to find everything for Kal's project?" Lara asked Jor.

He nodded, "yes Lara, I am trying to concentrate dear," he grabbed a small box and set it next to some utensils on the table.

Lara turned around to see the two young adults in front of her and smiled, "perhaps we shall leave and come back when your father is done here?" She head for the exit and Kal followed along with Diana.

As all three walked down the hall Diana pat Kal on the shoulder and whispered, "why do we need to stay here for a few days? It seems your father is working quite quickly and it's only been an hour."

Kal nodded, "yes, but we need to test it in your type of climate. It would be awful if we got back and the devices malfunctioned or something."

"Good point," Diana concluded. They all went into the sitting room and Lara turned around gracefully with a small grin on her face.

"There is no need to whisper here, princess. Your words will not be used against you," she sat down in a chair to relax.

Diana's face flushed and she sat down on a couch and she saw Kal avoided being near her ever since they got here. He went to sit in the chair across from the sofa and the chair Lara was sitting in. Although she knew his reasons as to why he was avoiding her she didn't really like that he was making it so obvious. She knew that Lara was no fool just like her mother, but if she knew, Diana hoped that Lara wouldn't say anything about it, at least not while she was in the room.

"So Diana, how do you like Krypton so far?" Lara crossed one leg over the other and stared straight at her.

Diana was feeling a little put on the spot, but she answered nicely, "well, it's nice I suppose. I haven't had the chance to really _see_ Krypton except inside your home, which is interesting."

Lara's face turned from blank to very confused. Kal hoped that Diana meant 'interesting' in a good way. He was beginning to feel very nervous now at what his mother might be thinking right now.

"What do you imply by my home being interesting?"

The amazon shrugged, " it's just different from my home and I am not used to this type of architecture or landscaping. It's all new to me, I didn't mean it was bad, just different. I am sure you felt the same about my island."

Lara's face turned into a smile and she nodded, "ah yes your home is so..._archaic_, compared to Krypton. It is quite fascinating that you and your people are able to live such a life. I am intrigued how you all go about your daily activities with such ease."

Kal's eyes averted to Diana once his mother spoke so bluntly. He hoped that his mother did not offend her in any way. He saw Diana's face go into complete shock and a loss for words. With that kind of reaction he smirked. This was the first he had seen her completely speechless.

Diana saw Kal's smirk out of the corner of her eye and she snapped her head around and frowned. "What is so funny Kal?"

"W...what? Nothing, I didn't say anything," he nervously smiled. His eyes went to his mother now who was looking back and forth at the two of them.

Diana released a smug look on her face, "right, I am sure of it. You didn't have to say anything."

"Maybe I won't say anything anymore, how's that?"

"Works for me," Diana smiled stretching her legs onto the sofa.

Lara switched her gaze from Diana back to Kal and then back to Diana when she stretched her legs onto the sofa. She noticed that the two were completely comfortable being around each other. She didn't know how to feel about that only hoping that the time they spent together was only because he was in the Themysciran program.

"Kal," Lara interrupted their little moment, "why don't you show Diana around the city for awhile? It will give your father some more time to work alone." she ended with a smile.

With that Kal was glad to leave the sight of his mother and he grabbed Diana's hand to help her off the sofa then immediately let go rubbing his hand on his suit. Diana eyed him and raised her eyebrow. She then folded her arms and scoffed.

"Do I have germs now, Kal?"

"No...ah...come on let us go outside now, **okay**?" Kal narrowed his eyes and Diana followed with no questions asked.

Lara stood up watching them leave and she shook her head. She made her way back to the lab to see if Jor had come any further in their son's project.

* * *

Diana and Kal stepped outside of his luxurious home and Kal lightly slapped Diana on her arm. Diana swiftly turned and furrowed her eyebrows, frowning deeply.

"What in Hades, Kal?!"

"What, it's okay for you to hit me, but not okay for me? Alright."

Diana slapped him back onto the arm, "now we're even. What did you do that for?"

He walked ahead without her and sighed, "Diana you can't just act like that in front of my mother."

She followed him, "like what? I was just being myself like I said I would."

They were heading towards the city and outside the perimeters of his home and he stopped and grabbed her arms gently, "that's the problem."

Diana felt a bit hurt that he would be saying this to her, "I didn't know being myself was such a problem, Kal." She threw her arms out his grasp and walked ahead of him briskly.

Kal inwardly kicked himself and groaned. Running after her he grabbed her hand to pull her back. "that's not what I meant, I'm sorry."

"Then _what_ did you mean, Kal?"

He sighed, "I love when you act like yourself. It's so...refreshing from everyone on my planet. You're great that's not the problem."

"So what is the problem?" Diana folded her arms gazing intensely into his eyes.

Kal didn't want to upset Diana, but he knew he already did. He had upset his parents, his cousin and aunt along with many others, but they didn't really matter as far as their emotions went. Kryptonians were very stale when it came to emotion, but Diana was all emotions and he admired that about her. She was never afraid to express herself, especially around others she didn't know very well like his mother. Although he knew that she might say something out of line around his parents, he never thought it would make him so upset that she was just being herself. Maybe it was because he actually enjoyed spending his time around her.

"You're not the problem. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, Diana. It's just...I don't want my mother asking questions about us. I think she already knows we spend a lot of time together and I can tell she doesn't really take a liking to you and I being together. That's all, I just want us to remain the same like we were on Themyscira without my mother's judgment."

Diana smiled softly, "you don't have to get sentimental on me, Kal," she punched his upper arm.

"Why do you keep punching me?" He laughed and he tried to punch her back but she caught his fist with ease.

"I am stronger than you here, Kal! You are no match for me," she smiled and let go of his fist.

"No match huh? We'll see about that," they both treaded closer into the metropolitan area.

Diana sped off, "I'm faster than you, stronger than you oh and..." she lifted in the air, "I can fly and you can't." She shrugged and flew off to the city.

Kal looked up at her flying in the sky and he sighed, "that is not fair Diana!"

"Do you want me to carry you?" she teased.

He folded his arms as he looked at her in the sky, "now that is just demeaning."

Diana relented and she let her feet settle to the ground. She hooked arms with Kal and they walked the rest of the way into Kryptonopolis.

* * *

Kal showed Diana all of the stores in the city and it wasn't so different from Themyscira as they continued their journey. Diana wanted to stop in all of the stores and none of them were clothing stores. Kal had been to the city many, many times, but he enjoyed Diana embracing his culture.

"How come your planet does not sell weapons to the public?" Diana walked by a store that sold chemicals and was wondering why they wouldn't sell weapons to everybody, but they sold chemicals.

"Our government controls weapons. They believe it is dangerous if the public had weapons in their possession."

"What if someone breaks into your home?" Diana asked genuinely concerned.

Kal smiled, "that kind of thing doesn't happen here, princess. We don't have any Bana Amazons here, sorry to disappoint."

She nodded, "indeed those Bana will be the death of all Amazons! They are ruthless."

"And you are not?"

Diana shrugged meekly and smiled. Kal grabbed her hand and pulled her aside into a store that looked like his greenhouse. She looked around at all the unusual plants in the store.

"What is this place? It seems strange to buy plants, why don't they just grow them?"

"You don't buy these plants to grow, you drink them."

Diana raised an eyebrow looking very skeptical. Kal told her to sit down at a table and he went up to a blonde woman who seemed very nice. She continued to look around at all of the plants. Diana didn't really understand how or even why someone would want to consume these odd looking plants. Some of them looked like they were alive. It was just too strange for her.

Kal returned with two tall flute glasses and Diana looked at the liquid inside and it was a bright blue color. He sat down next to her and took a sip from his glass and smiled.

"Just try it Diana, it tastes good."

Diana sighed and sipped the blue liquid carefully and swallowed accordingly. She made a disgusted face and covered her mouth. Kal saw her reaction and stifled his giggling.

Once she was able to speak again she exhaled slowly, "oh gods, that tastes like..."

"Good?" Kal smirked.

"like horse dung. Kal, why would you give me something so revolting?" Diana pat her tongue with the backside of her hand.

Kal smiled at Diana's reaction. He was expecting her reaction to be something like that. All of the Kryptonians loved this drink and he even drank it occasionally when he was in the city with his parents or relatives.

A few hours later after Diana had rid her taste buds from the unappetizing drink that Kal offered, both went into the square of the city and some were sitting on benches talking. Others were in a hurry to be somewhere and some continued going into shops. Diana could tell that these Kryptonians were not from this city and were perhaps visiting just by the way they dressed and walked around frantically. This world was nothing like hers and definitely not anything like Themyscira.

Kal offered Diana to sit down on the bench and she looked around carefully. She felt like everyone was watching but in reality nobody was looking.

"Your city has a lot of interesting items. My mother would really appreciate the work your people do."

Kal smiled, "thank you, but you used the word 'interesting' before. Is this a good or bad interesting?" he knowingly teased her.

Diana almost slapped him on the arm, but realized others were around so she stopped herself. "Your planet is very nice, how's that, Kal?"

"Better," he smiled.

Diana set her hand on top of his and felt the warmth of his hand touch hers. Her eyes met his and she tried to hide her smile, "thank you for showing me around your city. It was very kind of you."

Kal looked into her eyes and if there weren't anybody around he would definitely kiss her, but for now he backed away slowly. "We should get back. I am sure my father is done by now and my mother will wonder where we have gone to." He got up to leave and lend his hand to her to stand. Diana took it but was kind of disappointed that they didn't get to spend any more time together. She was sure that they'd have plenty of time to be together on Themyscira, in secret of course.

As they made their way back to the El home, Diana pulled Kal aside against the side of his home. Kal's eyes grew as he was confused as to why Diana pulled him aside.

"Whoa there, what did I tell you? We can't do that here, remember?" he reiterated.

Diana nodded, "I know, but I want to ask you something."

"Okay go for it and hurry it up. I hear guards coming, at least I hope it's just guards and not my mother or..."

Diana covered his mouth with her hand and he stopped talking. "Do you like being with me?"

"Wha...what? What kind of question is that? Of course I do," he said with a smug smile.

She shook her head, "no besides the sex. Do you like being around me even if we're not sharing a bed together?"

Kal had to think about that question. He wanted to say yes, but what would happen after that? Would that mean things would change between them and he didn't really want things to change or be awkward. He liked being around her before they started having sex. They hadn't been in bed together for a week and they had been fine. Why the sudden concern, he wondered?

"Yes," he paused and stared directly at her, "I do."

A smile appeared on her face when he said so and she felt much better about her thoughts that had been bothering her for the past month now. She took her hands off his body and started going for the entrance to his home then suddenly she was pulled back by Kal's hand. He tried not to startle her and he smiled at her.

"Do you like being with me as well?" he felt nervous even asking her the same question, but he needed to know.

Diana felt her heart racing and she didn't want to make a comeback with any smart remarks so she answered honestly, "yes, Kal, I really do. You are something that goes against my mother's hateful words about men. You are one of a kind, but yet you do not treat me any different than you would yourself. It is like I am your equal and I am not beneath you as I have heard men often do to women."

Kal half smiled nervously, "I don't know if that is a compliment or not."

"I say that I like being around you and you think I would insult you. You really don't know me do you, Kal?" Diana teased and walked off by herself and he followed.

"So it was a compliment?" he asked and he heard Diana snicker as she treaded ahead. "damn woman." he shook his head.

"Why don't you come to my room tonight and find out?" Diana said quietly and opened the doors to step inside the El home.

* * *

Jor, Lara, Kal and Diana sat at the dinner table together quietly. The elder Els were more talkative as opposed to the other night they all sat for dinner. Diana suddenly started to miss conversing with her mother at the table because she was at least interesting to talk to at times despite her motherly lectures. Jor went on to explain the type of technology that Themyscira will need for about thirty minutes. He also told Kal that they will be in the lab for half the day tomorrow working on the project. Diana realized that this project was becoming more time consuming for Kal's parents than it was for her and for him. Although she knew this would help her people immensely she couldn't help but feel bad for letting his parents do most of the work. She did notice that his father seemed to be enjoying helping out another civilization in need so she didn't speak ill about his contribution.

Lara turned to Diana who was trying to enjoy the food that was given to her but she could tell that Diana didn't really like the food all that much.

"You don't have to eat the food Diana. If you wish to have something to your liking, just ask for it. We can make any kind of food you want," Lara smiled at her.

Diana looked up from her plate at Lara feeling a little embarrassed at her lack of table manners. She was coming to the realization that her mother was right when it came to her awful table manners. Diana wasn't the center of attention here and she didn't want to be, after all this was Kal's home and she was trying to be a gracious guest. She wasn't used to interacting with people other than her mother and sisters so maybe she should have listened to her mother when it came to being a good guest.

Feeling a little guilty she decided to deny Lara's request and continue to eat the alien food. "No thank you, the food is fine. It's just me."

"Are you sure?" Lara asked again taking a sip of her water.

Diana nodded, "my mother had taught me to be polite and that is something that I am definitely not. I apologize. This food is only strange to me because I am used to the food that my chefs cook for my mother and I back home."

Jor looked over at Diana and asked, "what do you eat back home, Diana?"

Diana looked up at the ceiling in thought of where to begin, "there's so many different types of food on my island it's hard to describe each one. For one in the morning there is usually an assortment of breads, cheeses, and fruits such as figs, pomegranates, nectarines, and dates. For lunch, which I normally don't sit with my mother, there's sometimes sandwiches filled with yogurt and vegetables, but it really varies. Dinner is usually goat or lamb with stuffed cabbage or grape leaves, toasted bread with cheese and a large tray of vegetables which the chef smokes briefly."

Lara and Jor nodded, "that sounds very appealing. We had similar food when we were there I seem to remember. It tasted different from our foods, but it was of good quality. It sounds like your people's diet is full of carbohydrates." Lara said finishing her plate off.

Diana wasn't sure if she meant that as a bad thing or good but she just smiled meekly, "well my sisters and I work out in the sun a lot and the bread keeps us going. It's the only thing I know because I have grown up with it." With all the talking about food she had finished her plate without noticing and she was able to stomach it more than that drink that Kal gave her earlier.

"Although there is one thing I do not like on Krypton as long as we're in the food category," everyone paused to look over at Diana. Kal had an idea and he started snickering in between drinking his water. "This horrible blue liquid that it somehow squeezed from a plant! Kal gave it to me and it was absolutely disgusting." Diana made a face just remembering the taste in her mouth. She was starting to feel sick just thinking about it.

Lara and Jor looked at each other and were very confused. They saw that Kal was chuckling to himself at the table.

Once he had calmed himself down, "I gave her Oregus today while we were cruising through Kryptonopolis."

His parents smiled and nodded as they recalled the drink.

"That plant provides more than just a drink. It is used in our food and it is very nutritious. I used to give it to Kal before he went to sleep as a child." Lara said.

Once Diana heard that the plant was also in their food that explained why she didn't like the taste of their food either. It wasn't the sight of the food, but the taste was just...horrid.

"Excuse me," Diana got up from the table and excused herself to go to the bathroom suddenly feeling sick again. That horrible plant that they think was so delicious was rubbing her the wrong way as it did earlier.

Jor looked back to see if Diana rounded the corner and he pushed his clean plate aside. He laced his fingers together on the table and stared at his wife then his son. Lara nodded at him and so he began, "Kal we need to talk to you about something important."

Kal reached for the serving bowl and paused as both his parents were staring intently at him. "What is it?"

Lara spoke this time, "as you know you are getting older and need to start training under me as a military personnel. You are also at the perfect age to get married to a young woman. If you wait too long then it will look bad on our House."

Kal felt a bit invaded. He didn't want to get married to a Kryptonian woman especially if it was that princess, Shara Si from the Zod family. She was strange, but attractive nonetheless, but not his type.

"I'm not marrying that crazy woman Shara Si. She's so odd and bats her eyelashes constantly at me. Not to mention she is too quiet and doesn't really like me very much. I don't want to marry Kirana princess either from the Lot family. Have you seen her? That redhead thinks she is better than anyone especially me." He scoffed shaking his head.

His parents noticed their son's resentment towards their choices and he knew that he wasn't going to marry them even if they willed it.

"We figured you would resent those two Houses so we have someone else in mind. You have not met her yet," Jor said to his distressed son.

Kal hoped that Diana would return from the bathroom by now so his parents could stop talking to him about marriage with these Kryptonian women. He waited for his father to continue once the awkward silence passed.

"Dru-Zod has a woman in mind for you as you made it clear that you don't want to marry his eldest daughter."

"I'm not marrying the young daughter either," Kal thought he should add that in.

Jor shook his head, "No you won't, son. Dru-Zod has a fellow scientist from Argo that has moved to Kryptonopolis and she is also a military personnel. Her name is Faora-Ul. She is not technically of royal blood, but is connected and thought that when you could cut your Themysciran program visit short and come meet her within two months time."

...

Lara inhaled deeply, "she is very eager to meet you, Kal."

Kal didn't have anything to say to his parents. He knew that if he argued with them that would get nowhere so he chose to leave the table and end the discussion.

"Excuse me I am going to check on Diana to see if she is alright," with that he left swiftly and rounded the corner to the bathroom.

Lara looked at her husband and sighed, "he is rather resentful."

"Indeed," Jor nodded, "he needs to stop being emotionally involved with that Amazon Princess."

* * *

Kal came to the bathroom and knocked on the door to listen to see if Diana was alright. He didn't want to keep having that discussion with his parents as he knew it probably wouldn't end well. He would have to listen to his parents though, but he didn't want to tell Diana this. He also knew that he didn't want to marry anybody right now. He didn't have to marry anybody especially people that his parents picked although it was mostly his mother that chose the candidates.

He rapped on the door once more, "Diana are you okay? You've been in there for almost ten minutes."

Diana was on the floor and finally was able to stand up without feeling sick anymore. She hated that Oregus plant or whatever it was called. She wasn't sure she was able to handle three or more days eating that food. She slid open the door and saw Kal staring at her.

"Yes I am fine, thank you. Don't ever give me that drink again Kal. I didn't know it would have such an effect on me." She held her head with the palm of her hand.

He put his hands on her shoulders, "My parents brought some to Themyscira for your mother to try and although she didn't really fancy the taste, it didn't make her sick. I'm sorry I didn't know it would do this to you."

Diana smiled at him, "do not worry about me Kal. I think I will go to bed now."

"alone?" he smirked bringing her closer to him.

"Hmmm, perhaps I shall find a certain someone in my room in the night and I shall embrace him as the gracious princess that I am?" Diana smiled devilishly suddenly feeling a little less nauseous.

"Is that certain someone with dark hair and a _great_ personality?"

Diana giggled, "I don't know I guess I'll have to see who comes to my bed, Prince El." she treaded off to her room to turn in for the night.

Kal watched her leave and turn the corner. He exhaled and grinned. She was truly irresistible he thought to himself.

* * *

Later in the evening Diana was having trouble getting to sleep as she would make ocassional trips to the bathroom in her room during the night. Finally though she saw it was about four hours until morning and she didn't get up at all. Resting her eyes and drifting off to a light sleep she heard her door open.

Her eyes shot open and turned slowly to see a dark figure appear. A smile came to her.

"I thought you were not going to make it," she turned back over and curled up under the sheets. She then felt his warm body up against hers.

"Do you always sleep in the nude, Diana?" Kal asked.

She nodded, "it the most natural," she mumbled. She felt his arms wrap around her body and she scooted closer to him. She wasn't expecting sex, but she kind of liked the idea of just sleeping in the bed together peacefully.

He whispered, "are you feeling any better from earlier?" he kissed her shoulder.

Diana was drifting off to sleep slowly, "yes...a little, thank you...for asking."

"What was that?" He could barely make out her mumbling. Kal then peeked over her shoulder and saw she was finally asleep.

**AN: Oregus Plant is found in a few DC Superman comics. Enjoy and RR :)**


	13. Chapter 13

Sovereignty

Diana awoke from her slumber and stretched her arms above her head, yawning looking at the time. It was almost noon. She was so shocked that she had slept for that long and she reached over to see if Kal was still there but he was gone and his side of the bed was neatly made. She smiled and swung her legs over the edge of the bed to slowly stand up. Last night didn't go so well for her as she was constantly feeling sick from that Oregus plant that Kal gave her and then when she found out it was in their food it made her even more ill. Diana chose not to let her taste buds effect her today and she was feeling a lot better anyway.

She walked over to the bathroom to take a shower and go find Kal and his parents. She hoped that sleeping in wouldn't be a problem. Even back on Themyscira she never slept in that late unless she had nothing to do the next day and was partying for the majority of the night. Those times were rather rare anyhow. She stepped into the cubical shower and slid the door closed turning on the water.

After spending thirty minutes in the shower Diana braided her damp hair and slipped on a fitted short gown. She opened her door and looked down the long hallway to make sure the coast was clear and she slid the door closed behind her.

Diana walked down the hall into the sitting area and saw Lara was sitting down drinking that Oregus stuff she had yesterday. She readied herself and was sure that she'd be on her best behavior only for Kal's sake.

"Hello, how are you?" Diana greeted Lara and sat next to her.

Lara turned to her left and saw Diana with a warm grin plastered on her face. She smiled softly in return but scooted over some. She didn't really like people sitting so close to her, not even Jor. This must be a cultural thing, she thought.

"Good afternoon, Diana. I see you slept in quite late," Lara set her glass down on the nearby table.

Diana felt a little embarrassed about that and somehow she knew that one of Kal's parents was going to notice and say something. Of course his mother would take note of it. She was starting to feel like she was being judged for every little thing she did in this home, but she didn't want to let that show.

"Well, I didn't sleep very well last night. I was still feeling sick from yesterday," a long pause came and Diana sighed, "I don't normally sleep in so late back home. I apologize," her face flushed a bit.

Suddenly Lara looked over at the Amazon princess and smiled, "what are you apologizing for? You have not done anything wrong towards me. I'm sorry about your illness, hopefully you are feeling better today, right?"

Diana nodded and felt a little less awkward now that she smiled at her lame apology. "Yes, I do. Where is Kal and Jor-El?"

"Oh you have just missed them. They are testing the technology in a climate controlled room right now. You and Kal might be able to leave tonight if the testing comes back successful."

Slowly Diana nodded hoping that Lara would reveal where they were so she could go meet them, but she didn't really want to ask. She figured that maybe she wouldn't be allowed inside the room anyway.

Lara was on her tablet typing with her index finger and noticed Diana staring at her from the corner of her eye. She looked over again and set the tablet on her lap.

"May I assist you with something, Diana?" Lara spoke in a warm voice to her.

"No, no, I am fine. I am just hungry that is all," not really, Diana's appetite wasn't up to try anymore of the Kryptonian food just yet, but she didn't want to bother Lara anymore than she already has.

The El Queen stood up and started walking away but signaled with her hand for Diana to follow her. Diana stood and trailed behind.

A few moments later Lara opened a door with her palm and made her way into a large room. Diana stepped inside and the door slid closed behind her. She looked around and saw that there was all kinds of trays on a super long table. The table must have been at least thirty feet long.

Lara gestured to all the trays upon the table, "these are all our different types of entrees. You may choose which one you would like."

Diana stepped forward and looked at all the alien foods. She wasn't sure what was what and she probably didn't want to know what was in the trays anyway.

"Forgive me, but I don't really know what any of this is," Diana looked at the El mother and smiled sheepishly.

Lara smiled and walked around the table examining the trays of food, then she pointed to this tray, "I think you may like this one, princess." She picked it up and handed it to her.

Diana took the tray and looked in the tray. It didn't look horrible, but she still didn't know what it was, but if Lara said she would like it then she probably would. After what happened yesterday Diana didn't know if she could trust Kal and his choice of food or drink any longer.

"So," she looked at the food again, "how does one eat this food? Does it need to be heated?"

Lara nodded, "just put it under any of the lamps in the walls and it will be done in a few minutes. Our food here is prepared many days ahead by our servants."

Of course what was I thinking, Diana thought to herself, placing the tray under a lamp to wait patiently.

Once the food was heated both women left the room and went to the dining area.

Just as Diana sat down she saw Kal and his father coming down the hallway. She smiled a little and then noticed Lara was looking at her so she hide her smile and stirred her food with her fork.

"ah I see you are awake now, Diana. How did you sleep?" Kal said while he winked at her.

Diana took a bite of her food sitting in front of her, "I slept very well, thank you. Hello your majesty," she nodded at Jor-El and he returned her greeting with a curt nod.

Jor wiped his hands down with a cloth he had, "I think you are all set to go, princess. Everything works and is in order. You both shall be ready to leave once everything is loaded into your aircraft."

Kal sat down across from Diana and his mother smiling at the two women. Diana felt her face flush as soon as he smiled directly at her.

Her gaze averted to Jor who had just finished talking and she swallowed some food, "that is fabulous news. I thought we would be here a lot longer!" As she swallowed more of the alien food she was starting to feel ill again. Diana ate about half the tray and then pushed it away from her.

"Your food was really good and much better than yesterday's," Diana smiled and stood up to leave the table. Kal saw Diana's fake smile and raised an eyebrow keeping his thoughts to himself. She is a really bad liar, he noticed this a long time ago.

"Will you help me load everything into your jet, Diana?" Kal stood offering his arm to her and she gladly agreed and left the room in a hurry.

Jor and Lara looked at one another once those two exited.

"He is fascinated by her," Lara said aloud.

Jor shook his head at his son's behavior and wife's words. "He merely has a small infatuation with her. It will subside once he realizes that he needs to be a man and live in reality with a fine Kryptonian wife."

"Let us hope it is only an infatuation, Jor."

"It will have to be, or else."

Lara laughed, "don't be cynical, Jor," she stood and exited the room heading for some combat training, hoping he would follow her.

* * *

Diana and Kal entered the laboratory and she sighed a great sigh of relief.

"By the gods, Kal! Your food is so terrible!" She finally let out her frustration.

Kal started laughing and she put her hands on her hips not finding this very funny. He looked up and saw that she wasn't laughing.

Clearing his throat he put a hand on her shoulder, "It's not funny, I know." There was a long pause and he started laughing again.

Diana punched him in the arm and he gasped audibly. "Rao, Diana!"

"You deserved it. Laughing at my illness will get you nowhere, Kal," she winked.

"Sorry. Well, not really," Kal teased and he dodged Diana's next punch. "aHa! You missed me."

She smirked, "you got lucky."

Kal picked up one of the metal boxes sitting on the floor and handed it to Diana. He practically shoved it into her arms and she scoffed.

"What? Aren't you stronger than me?" Kal smiled knowing that would annoy her. He was definitely going to get back at her for what she said yesterday.

Diana sped outside and opened her jet hangar to carry the box into the back of the jet. She sped back and was ready for another box that Kal gladly handed her not one, but three boxes.

"You let me do all the work while you just sit there? These boxes are not heavy, you know!"

"I just like to see you work for me, plus I get to sit back and just...take in the _view_," he folded his arms and had a smug look on his face as he was staring up and down at Diana's body.

She rolled her eyes, "well take a good look at it because you won't be seeing it for awhile," she left the room casually carrying the boxes out to the jet.

Kal's jaw dropped, "hey, what is that supposed to mean? Wait, is that you trying to be funny? Diana?" he frowned. He didn't know if she was joking or not but he knew she was a bad liar and he could tell when she was lying. This time it didn't look like a lie. Clever woman, he thought.

* * *

An hour later and everything was ready to go and Diana had closed the hangar to the jet. She and Kal went inside to say their goodbyes to the Els and take a semi-long journey back to Themyscira on earth. They met with Kal's parents in the sitting area and they both stood once Diana and Kal walked into the room.

"Are you finished already?" Jor asked a bit shocked they loaded that quickly.

Kal nodded, "Diana did most of the work."

Jor and Lara raised their eyebrows and Kal knew that wasn't the best thing to say and he rubbed the back of his neck feeling a bit embarrassed.

"It was nice of you to house me here. Perhaps I shall come back with my mother if she is not busy, if I am allowed back," Diana said. She saw the El's expressions change from shock to inviting.

"Of course you and your mother are allowed to come to Krypton anytime you wish," Lara said with a grin.

Suddenly Kal noticed his parents were staring intently at him in the eyes and he realized that they wanted to speak with him alone and without Diana in the room. He nodded curtly.

"Diana, would you turn on your jet and I shall be there in a few moments?" he asked her nicely and she nodded leaving the room.

Jor spoke to his son in a firm voice, "remember Kal-El, two months you will be back here to meet Faora. We have had this set up since you decided to flee to Themyscira."

Lara chimed in, "perhaps your infatuation with Diana will stop by the time you meet Faora."

Kal frowned, "my _infatuation_?" his voice slightly annoyed and he crossed his arms.

"son, it is clear that you are crazed about her." Jor said now annoyed at his son's attitude towards them.

Kal shrugged his shoulders, "Diana is a nice woman and I like spending time with her. She makes me laugh, she is very smart, skilled in so many areas and I actually get along with her."

"A little _too_ well if you ask me," Lara said with a raised brow and monotone voice.

Kal resisted to roll his eyes at his mother so he just breathed in deeply. "Whatever that means. I will not _disappoint_ you both, I shall arrive in two months," he said sarcastically and left the room waving bye to his parents.

"I wonder if Hippolyta knows of their quality time spent together?" Lara asked her husband.

Jor sighed, "if she does, she is a fool for letting them."

"I doubt she would if she knew, shall we contact her to let her know about Kal returning here?"

Jor shook his head, "no need, Lara. He will follow instructions. Kal has not let us down so far."

* * *

Kal stepped inside the jet and Diana was in the chair staring at him very seriously.

"You were in there with your parents for awhile, is everything alright?" she asked as he sat down in the passenger seat.

He shrugged the situation off. He didn't want Diana to know about Faora or him leaving in two months so he acted like it wasn't such a big deal.

"It was nothing. They just didn't want me to leave so soon," he smiled.

Diana smiled weakly and closed the door and prepared to take off.

He then put a hand on hers, "maybe I should fly us back to Themyscira? You flew us here to my home, the least I can do is fly us back?"

Diana was reluctant to let him fly her jet but she relented and got up from her seat and traded spots with him.

Kal had watched her press certain buttons and take off so he memorized exactly how the jet worked. Once they lifted into the air he took off and slouched back, relaxing in the chair. He kept his eyes in the dark atmosphere ahead.

"Thanks for coming with me Diana. It made this trip a lot more bearable for me. I am glad that you got to spend a little bit of time on Krypton and absorb a small amount of my culture. It really means a lot to me, seriously. You don't have to say anything or even say 'hey Kal, you're welcome', your presence was enough..." he stopped talking once he didn't hear anything from Diana. Then he looked over in the passenger seat and saw she was passed out with her head lolled over to the side, breathing quietly.

Smiling he put his hand on her knee and chuckled quietly to himself. "You're a great listener, Diana."

Four hours later and they were about a half hour from arriving on Themyscira. Kal had put the jet in autopilot for the remainder of the time since she fell asleep. Diana awoke suddenly and looked over and saw Kal was not in the pilot's seat.

"Kal?!" she called out and got up to only bump into him and he spilled the water in the cup he held all over himself. She covered her mouth, "oh, I'm so sorry. I thought something happened when I saw the pilot seat was empty."

He set the cup aside and brushed his hands on his suit, "no worries, Diana. You were asleep the entire time and I thought I'd get you some water once you woke up, but I guess not."

"I'm sorry," Diana bit her bottom lip and sat back down in the passenger seat.

He sat across from her now, "it's only water. We're almost to Themyscira anyway," he smiled turning off the autopilot.

"I slept for four hours straight? Hera," she held her head at the shock of her sudden fatigue. She had slept in so late on Krypton that she didn't think she needed anymore sleep, but apparently she was wrong.

Kal grabbed her hand as he kept his eye on the blue, brightly lit skies, "I guess you were more tired than you thought?"

"I guess so," Diana couldn't shake the feeling of being so tired. It was unusual to her but then again she didn't normally travel to different planets, eat their food, get sick, and travel back in such a short amount of time.

Once they arrived and Kal slowly landed the jet as some Amazon guards guided him to the landing area. He turned off the jet and opened the hangar so the guards could unload the boxes.

Diana stepped out of the jet and was greeted by many of her sisters. She smiled and greeted them all with smiles and small embraces. She then saw her mother standing a few good feet away from the jet.

"Mother, how are you?" She embraced her mother with a warm hug.

This took Hippolyta by surprise and she returned the embrace by wrapping her arms around her daughter. She hardly ever received hugs from her daughter. She only guessed that Krypton was not her cup of tea and was glad to be back home.

"I am well, daughter," she took Diana by the arms and studied her face with worry. "You look a little pale. Have you been eating?"

Diana didn't really want to talk about food especially Kryptonian food, right now. She brushed off her mother's question. "yes, mother I ate. It was a long trip and I am just glad to be back home right now."

Hippolyta touched her daughter's face with her palm and decided not to question her anymore. It must had been quite an experience that she'd be glad to hear once she had some rest.

"Alright, well, you must be tired. Go rest, Diana. Our sisters will transport everything," she smiled.

Kal was helping the amazons with the last of the boxes and he closed the hangar to approach Hippolyta.

He bowed, "your highness, I hope you are well."

"I am, Kal-El, thank you. I hope you took care of my daughter on your planet?"

He didn't want to mention the food incident and he noticed that Diana was walking into the palace. Averting his gaze back to the Amazon Queen he nodded, "of course. My parents invited her back anytime, and you as well."

"How nice of them. Excuse me, Kal-El, I must be going now. I have something to oversee."

"Of course," he bowed and she left with a group of Amazonian guards trailing behind and in front of her.

* * *

Diana went into her room and sat on her bed. Once again she was feeling very fatigued, even more so than she was on Krypton. She got up and went to her balcony to close the curtains so the sun wouldn't shine so brightly into her bedroom. A knock came to her door and she announced for the visitor to enter her room.

It was one of her sisters that tended to her and she closed the door behind her smiling.

"Princess, it is so nice to have you back. May I get you anything? Phillipus told me to ask how you were doing after your lengthy journey."

Diana shook her head, "no thank you, Amedia."

"Perhaps some water and food?" she kept on.

Diana did feel a bit thirsty, but the food didn't appeal to her. "Water would be nice and maybe some juice if it's not too much trouble."

"Of course, princess. I will be back shortly," Amedia exited the room in a hurry and Diana heard her swiftly walk down the hallway.

Diana laid down on her bed with her back propped against her headboard and just relaxed. She was glad to be back in her room. Not that she didn't enjoy her stay on Krypton, but her home was where she belonged. She could never live on Krypton. It was too strict for her and not to mention very boring because everyone wore the same clothing and acted in the same manner.

A few minutes later Amedia came into the room and brought a tray of water, juice and a few slices of warm bread and set it on Diana's bedside table.

"Phillipus told me to bring you some food anyway," Amedia smiled, "the Kryptonian wants to visit you. I am not sure your mother would approve but I thought I'd ask you first."

Diana nodded, "let him in and thank you for the food and drinks."

Amedia bowed and let Kal into her room and closed the door.

Kal smiled smugly, "how are you feeling now, princess?"

She rolled her eyes, "I am fine. Just happy to be back in my own bed."

"I bet you are as am I," he laid down next to her and kissed her forehead, then gradually went down to kissing her cheek.

Diana closed her eyes and held her breath, "this is not a good idea, Kal. Not here, we just got back."

"It's really been too long, don't you think so?" He kissed her neck and collar bone gingerly. Kal wrapped his arm around her torso and brought her body closer to his.

"you're making this very hard, Kal."

He looked up at her and she was staring at him with dark eyes, "then why are you resisting?"

Diana beamed deviously and flipped him over on his back as she climbed on top of him stripping herself of clothing. "Make it quick, Kal."

"whoa, you are very demanding." He didn't mind that, he actually missed her forcefulness.

She kissed his chest and smiled, "make it quick so we can save more for later," she continued down lower on his body. Yeah, he didn't mind this at all. Anytime he was able to have with Diana he cherished.

"that sounds...reasonable to...me," he mouthed breathlessly.

Diana figured that she had left him dry for a little too long. She was enjoying this even more than he was, possibly.

**AN: more interesting stuff will happen in the next chapter. Back to Antiope very soon for something very important later on! Thank you for all who are reading and reviewing. Sorry I haven't been able to reply, have been a bit busy! Enjoy, everyone! :)**


	14. Chapter 14

Mendacity

Kal was inside the palace working on installing the new electrical system for the past two days. Some of the royal guard would stand there for supervision and if he needed any help they were there ready to go. He thought it might be best to start the installation in the palace first and besides he hoped the Queen would be excited to see what Kryptonian technology has to offer. He felt as if his planet needed to aid others and what better way to start than on Themyscira? Kal thought of what his parents often said about Themyscira and how 'archaic' their civilization was. He didn't know whether his parents meant that in a bad way or good, but how would they know? Kal realized that his people didn't know anything other than their way of living just as the Amazons. Maybe that is why Diana was so shocked at the way of life of the Kryptonians compared to the Amazons. He rather liked spending time on Themyscira, but he did enjoy stepping foot on Krypton even if it was for a few days.

The only thing that made Themyscira more enjoyable was being with and or around Diana. A smile came to him as he remembered Diana. He was so glad he got to spend a few short minutes with her when they arrived back here from their trip. A few minutes was more than he expected and it was enough for now. He actually didn't expect anything from her after they arrived and he didn't want to pressure her, but it seemed like a regular routine for the two of them.

Kal thought of when he had that talk with Diana while they were on Krypton, about her behavior. He didn't want her to change herself, but maybe she has sort of changed. He felt as though he had changed his nonchalant attitude whilst being around her.

Just finishing installing one of the boxes in the palace on a wall, the keyboard was no bigger than the palm of his hand, luckily it was small and could be covered if Hippolyta didn't like the sight of it. He stood back and looked over to his left and saw Diana walking into the palace's main entrance.

Diana made eye contact with him and hid her smile as her hair covered half of her face as she turned the corner to head down the hallway.

Kal saw her smile and he beamed in return hoping that she would see just before she rounded the corner. Seeing that he was being watched by a group of guards he stepped back and pressed a button that correlated with the keyboard on the wall. Jor suggested that installing lamps all over the island was unnecessary because it would only create more work for Kal and the Amazons once the lamps died. He suggested that electricity should be used when needed and not for the sake of having it. This source of energy would be used on Themyscira in a different way than on Krypton and although it wasn't uncommon to have on Krypton, not all homes and buildings had it installed as it was costly.

Kal and his father decided that this kind of electricity should be activated by voice and thermal recognition. As long as someone is in the room and speaks aloud, the electricity should turn on when needed. Obviously this would only be used in the evenings, but Kal needed to test it immediately.

Typing in a few codes for the box to work he adjusted a few things and then stepped back.

Queen Hippolyta entered the room and made her way to where Kal was standing staring at some small flat box that she could only guess was some kind of alien tablet found on Krypton.

"How is everything coming along, Kal-El?" she spoke with a warm tone.

Kal turned his head to the Queen, "very well I am just fixing a few codes and it should be working in a few minutes. Once this box is installed it will make it a lot easier to install one in each building on the island.

Hippolyta nodded and was quite intrigued to see how this all would play out.

A few short moments later Kal spoke aloud to ensure that the system was able to work. His tablet was able to connect to the electrical system and recognized every warm body in the room. A smile came to him as he was able to see his system he and his father designed had actually worked. The room became brighter instantly.

Hippolyta looked around and the room was far brighter than the sunlight was letting in. "That is magnificent and ingenious!"

"It is quite remarkable. I am glad that this system works here," he nodded at his accomplishment and was relieved that Hippolyta was pleased with the new technology on her island. He realized this would be a culture shock to the Amazons, but he just wanted to help and he hoped that everyone would benefit from this invention.

* * *

Diana was in her room changing from her sweat drenched clothes from the training session she just finished. Her mother didn't want her to just jump back into her normal routine, but Diana didn't mind and to be honest she missed training those young men. It was thrilling to her and oddly satisfying to teach people how to fight like Amazons, whether they were men or women.

She had missed breakfast with her mother this morning because she just wasn't feeling very hungry, but she would meet her for lunch on her mother's balcony within the hour. After wiping herself down with a damp cloth she didn't have time to wash her hair as she would be late to meet her mother. Diana felt like she had ignored her mother and treated her badly sometimes her short life. After going to Krypton and meeting Kal's parents she realized that her behavior wasn't very inviting at times even though she felt her attitude didn't need an adjustment.

Diana felt as if she owed her mother many apologies for the way she spoke to her at times. She also felt the need to apologize to all of her sisters for her brash behavior and blunt unneeded comments to them.

Sighing she grabbed a coral colored gown and looked at her body in the mirror noticing that she had a bit of a sunburn on her skin. Gasping she saw that her arms were rather red and she never got sunburned. Her body was used to the climate and the sun's rays. Also her skin was thicker than anyone's on Themyscira so she never really got 'burned' but just gradually tanned if she was in the sun longer than two hours.

Thinking this was strange she felt the need to cover her body with a sleeved gown so her mother wouldn't notice she rummaged through her wardrobe. Suddenly she kicked herself inward and realized that because of where she lived she had no gowns with long sleeves. Groaning she stood and slipped the gown on hoping her mother wouldn't call attention to it.

Making her way to her mother's balcony across the palace she saw that Kal was still in the main entrance. She glanced over and saw he was very engrossed in his work she decided not to distract him.

Kal could smell that smell which he knew was way too familiar to his nose. He looked around and saw Diana passing him subtly. He watched her walk away into a separate hallway and then Diana turned her head slightly revealing a shy grin. He saw her hand waving towards him and she turned around to head down the long walkway. Later tonight he hoped they would be able to see each other and maybe not be in such a rush. Kal hadn't been able to be with her for a long period of time for the last two and a half weeks. Putting that lovely thought in the back of his mind he asked the Amazonian royal guard to pick up the remaining boxes and to carry them to the next closest building.

Just as he was about to exit he took one last glance at the hall Diana entered and saw her round the corner. He figured that she was going to her mother's room. Grinning brightly he left the main room and found the next nearest building. With all the Amazons' help they would be done at nightfall and then that was when the real magic will happen.

Diana opened her mother's door and saw that she was sitting on the balcony with a small table of assorted foods.

"I thought you weren't going to make it, Diana," Hippolyta said taking a sip of her fruit wine.

Diana took the empty seat next to her mother and smiled gladly taking the glass of wine to drink.

Hippolyta looked at Diana's blushed skin and gasped setting her glass down. "By the gods Diana, you are so burnt! What happened to you?"

"I don't know, I was just in the sun as usual when I'm on the training grounds. My skin never gets like this. It is as if I am allergic to the sun," Diana knew that her mother would definitely make a fuss about this and she wasn't ready to hear any of it.

She touched her daughter's skin and Diana flinched moving her arm further away so she could no longer place her hands on it.

"Perhaps we should eat inside my room, away from the sun," Hippolyta got up and started to move the plates inside onto another table. She went back to retrieve the glasses of wine to bring them inside.

Diana stood up and felt a spell of dizziness hit her so she leaned herself against the nearby wall to hold herself up. Her mother looked back once the table was set and she saw a look of panic on her face.

"Diana, what is the matter?" Hippolyta came forward and grabbed her daughter to cling her closely so she wouldn't possibly fall. Sitting her down in one of the chairs, Hippolyta knelt down in front of her daughter examining Diana's skin more in depth.

"You are quite a mess. Maybe we should eat later and you can rest for a little bit. I shall give you some oil for your skin as well," she stood up and heard Diana sigh.

"Mother I am fine I have just not been eating a lot. I don't know if this burn as anything to do with it, but I don't feel right," Diana looked over at the balcony as the sun was shining brightly through the open space. She shook her head getting up once her mother turned her back looking through her collection of bottled oils. Diana went over to the large curtains and closed them so it was dark inside her mother's room now. Feeling a little more at ease once the curtains were closed she sat back down at the table.

Hippolyta turned around with a small bottle of oil in her hand and saw that Diana was sitting down drinking her wine casually.

"Maybe you should just drink water instead. It will hydrate you," she opened the bottle and dipped her fingers into the silky oil to apply it to her daughter's flushed skin. "This should make you feel better," smiling she stood up scooting her chair closer to Diana.

She touched her daughter's knee for comfort and frowned, "I am worried for you, Diana. I really think you should rest. This is very sudden. It is most strange, did anything happen on Krypton that was abnormal?"

Diana shook her head and grabbed a slice of a peach with some bread, munching on it slowly. "Well, I did eat this plant there, but nothing strange happened to Kal and the Els. I was the only one who got ill from it, but I doubt that is the cause of my sunburn and dizziness." Shrugging it off hoping that her mother would too she continued to eat her bread and fruit.

"Maybe they poison your food?" Hippolyta asked suspiciously with a raised brow.

Diana reacted with slight irritation lacing her voice, "no mother, how could you say such a thing? Look, just forget about it, I am feeling better already, alright?"

The Queen mother felt that her daughter didn't want to continue this conversation because of the possibilities of where it could lead to. She didn't really believe any of the Els would poison her daughter, but she thought she'd ask just out of curiosity. If she wanted more information that Diana wasn't telling her she could always ask Kal-El, which she might. That thought remained in the back of her mind, but for now she dropped the topic and continued with a new one.

"It is nice to see you eat something," she smiled humbly.

Diana returned the smile and swallowed her food, "it must be the trip. I am not used to travelling so far away from home. Anyway, let us talk about something a little less dense." She stared at her mother who wasn't really willing to change the subject but relented.

She continued, "Did you have any meetings with the council while Kal and I were gone?"

Hippolyta nodded, "I took a day trip to United States to visit on a new Themysciran program that needed to be approved."

Diana cocked her head to the side in confusion, "what new program?"

"I am allowing our island not only to male students but to female students as well from all over the globe, including Krypton and Almerac if they choose to participate."

Diana frowned, "why was I not informed of this program? How long have you had this idea planted in your mind, mother?" She was feeling a little annoyed now.

"For a few months now. Our male student program has been going so well and I decided that we needed to expand ourselves to allow women too. Most of our island is full of women anyway, I did not think it would be a problem. Besides I needed to get it approved first before I spoke with you or anybody about this."

Diana could get behind that but that didn't really make her feel any better about not being included in her mother's 'good' intentions.

"so I am only assuming that it was approved?" Diana asked as she finished a mouthful of bread and wine.

Hippolyta nodded, "yes and our students have been helping construct a new building to hold all of the female students. They have been working on it for the last two months on a more secluded part of the island, but far from the Bana."

Diana's initial reaction was definitely shock. She couldn't believe her mother was doing this right in front of her and Kal's noses the entire time. She felt the need to tell Kal about this, but she really didn't want to think about Kal and her mother at the same time right now.

"Oh I forgot to mention this as well," Hippolyta paused and saw her daughter was staring intently at her. "A new planet has joined the council. Planet Thanagar is very similar to Krypton when it comes to science and discipline. Katar and Shayera Hol will be coming here with an entourage next week. Queen Maxima will also be coming here next week as she asked if she was able to stop by."

Stop by you say? Diana didn't like that woman at all. "Excuse me, Maxima is coming here?"

"Is that a problem?"

"It will be if my fist meets her face," Diana mumbled drinking her wine.

Hippolyta raised her eyebrow, "what was that, Diana?"

"_Nothing_," she smiled.

After they both finished eating Hippolyta walked Diana down the hallway with their arms linked.

"Mother, I'm fine, really. I am going to the library and I will be back later," Diana trailed off until her mother's voice stopped her.

"Will you be back for dinner?"

Diana sighed inwardly, "I don't know, if I'm not back on time just leave a plate for me in my room." She quickly exited the palace exhaling a much needed sigh of relief. She had never felt so mothered by her mother in her entire life. Suddenly she is all over her and Diana didn't understand why. She wasn't exactly surprised that she was worried about her, but it was just odd in a way. Diana was beginning to wonder why she wasn't feeling herself and why she got a random sunburn.

* * *

Making her way into the library finally she went into the medical book section. There were so many different books to choose from and since their library wasn't exactly 'modern' she felt a little disadvantaged compared to the rest of the world and other advanced planets.

She was able to choose one of the larger books that basically had everything in it. It was like a giant encyclopedia of medical illnesses which often included medicines for cures etcetera. As she walked over to a secluded area of the library she noticed that everyone was staring at her. Feeling self conscious she hurried over to sit down on a large pillow on the floor in the corner.

Getting comfortable and opening the book looking up nausea, dizziness and sudden fatigue. She didn't exactly know where to start first. Science was never Diana's strong suit compared to other areas of expertise and she didn't want to ask for help that's for sure because someone might tell her mother. Diana didn't think she could handle anymore of her mother after what happened at lunch. Flipping through the pages she was able to find a few things that made sense, but those often meant that you were usually bitten by a venomous animal or stung by an insect. She knew that wasn't the case here.

After about five minutes of reading and flipping through ten pages of all the possible illnesses Diana was becoming frustrated with this book and herself. Perhaps there was nothing with her and it was all just in her head? No, most likely not. Diana wouldn't fabricate something just for the sake of it, although she could think of a few people that would do such a thing.

Coming to the last page of the section in the book it was almost like she told this book her exact symptoms minus the sunburn. The nausea, the fatigue, the dizziness, everything was exactly how she felt so she read all the way to the bottom of the page.

She almost believed she had this illness until she read the word, "pregnancy?" She crinkled her nose and closed the book setting it to the side. Resting her chin on her hand she sighed deeply.

"Impossible," she stood up and hastily exited the library after she placed the book back on the shelf where it belonged.

As Diana made her way out of the library she was buried in her thoughts completely ignoring everything and everyone around her.

* * *

Kal saw Diana heading his way and she looked like she was in a bit of a trance. He smiled happy to see her and sauntered over towards her.

"Diana, we have finished installing all of the system's boxes in every building on the island, except the Bana area."

"Impossible," Diana said to herself dismissing Kal's great news.

"What?" Kal was very confused now at Diana's response.

She looked up and saw Kal staring at her strangely, "what?"

"I said we finished installing the system and you said impossible, are you alright?" He wanted to come closer to her but knew there were many eyes around so he opted out.

Diana nodded coming to the realization that he was telling her something that was a great achievement, "Oh that is really nice, Kal. Congratulations," she started walking off without him.

Kal raised an eyebrow and followed her. Congratulations? This is not some kind of birthday.

"Diana!" He called out and everyone's eyes gazed at him and he flushed, clearing his throat, "Princess," he ran to her and grabbed her shoulder pulling her aside.

"Hello? Diana? Are you alright? You seem a little off. It will be dark soon and I will be giving a demonstration in the palace to showcase the new electricity here. Maybe after we can spend some time together?" He was hopeful at least, but the more he looked at Diana, the more unfocussed she became. He lay his hands on her shoulders and shook her body a bit to snap her out of the daze she was in.

Diana looked up and frowned, "what did you do that for?!" She shrugged his hands off of her shoulders.

He didn't react to her strange behavior, "did you hear anything I just said?"

"Yes, you installed the electricity and something about showcasing..." she was going back into her deep thoughts again. She didn't really want to be around him now, but perhaps this wasn't the case with her. She cannot even have children so her mother told her a long time ago.

"I think you should get yourself checked out, Diana. You're worrying me, seriously," he bent down and looked into her blue green eyes. She finally looked back at him.

"Kal, please don't do that, I am thinking," Diana folded her arms and started to walk away from their little secluded area in between two buildings.

Kal followed her as discreetly as possible and the more he followed the more Diana began to walk faster. What the hell? He was really confused now. He grabbed her arm and lead her into the forest up ahead where nobody could watch.

"Diana you're scaring me, what is wrong with you? Are you still feeling sick?"

Diana stared into his eyes and didn't know what to say to him. She certainly couldn't tell him what she was thinking right at this moment or maybe never because he might think that she is crazy or making this whole illness thing up, but she wasn't. She thought she should really stay away from reading books from now on. They plant ideas in the mind that don't even make sense in reality sometimes.

"I...I just want to be alone right now, I'm sorry Kal. Good luck on your...good luck," Diana brushed passed him and flew back to the palace leaving him alone in the forest. She entered her window to her bedroom and shielded herself with the curtains.

She sat down on her bed, resting her slender hand on her abdomen. She didn't feel any different and perhaps it is all in her head. For now she just wanted to sleep through the rest of the late afternoon until the morning. Feeling bad for leaving Kal out there in a confused state she probably wouldn't get to sleep anytime soon.


	15. Chapter 15

Parle Moi

The following week Hippolyta had invited the Thanagarians and Queen Maxima to Themyscira like she said she would. Diana had been keeping her distance from everyone especially Kal. It wasn't like she didn't want to be around him or talk to him because she did. She definitely enjoyed being around Kal, but right now she felt like she needed to be alone. The more Diana thought about Kal the more her thoughts began to confuse her and the more secluded she became. Occasionally she would see him on the training grounds or doing simple work for her fellow sisters, but she never made initial eye contact with him. Diana knew that Kal stared at her hoping that she'd make eye contact with him so avoided it at all costs.

Diana also knew that sooner or later she would need to converse with him especially since they were hosting a 'party' on the island knowing that he'd be there. She didn't wish to confuse the poor man, but at the same time she was contemplating on what to do with herself.

She walked into the large banquet hall where she saw her mother was helping others decorate the room. A few men were helping out as well which Diana enjoyed seeing. As she came closer to her mother the men stepped back bowing at her and Diana feeling rather shy at the moment gestured them to stop bowing at her.

Hippolyta turned around to see Diana standing there looking a bit wary and reserved. Smiling she stepped down off of a stool and hugged her daughter warmly.

"Diana how are you feeling? I hope better than last week. I haven't seen you outside on the training grounds. In fact I haven't seen you outside very much at all for the past week." Her mother's worried face was apparent to Diana as they both stared at one another.

"I am fine mother. I gave my position to Penelope for the last three days this week."

Hippolyta cocked her eyebrow at her, "why did you do that? Are you sure you're feeling well?"

Diana nodded, "yes I am feeling well, mother. I just needed a break from training for a while. I have been helping out in the library for the last three days and I never realized how much work goes into organizing books."

"Well I suppose as long as you're being productive it does not seem matter. I hope you will be attending the festivities tonight?"

"Yes of course I will mother. The decorations look wonderful and I wouldn't miss it. Excuse me I need to go do something," Diana left her mother's side and exiting the palace to go to the temple of Aphrodite. She felt as if she needed some guidance right now and who better to ask than the goddess of love and fertility herself.

* * *

Entering the temple she knelt down on one knee and sat in a moment of silence. Standing up walking to the large statue of Aphrodite and offered some flowers at the shrine. Diana stepped back and knelt down on both knees this time placing her hands on thighs looking down at the floor.

"Goddess Aphrodite I have left myself confused. I do not know what to do and I think I have done something horribly wrong, or maybe it isn't wrong at all. I don't know what to do," she sat there shaking her own head at herself. It was true, she had no idea how to react to this kind of situation. She had psyched herself out at the library last week when she was reading about her symptoms so she didn't know if her self-diagnosis had any truth to it or not.

Sighing she closed her eyes and drifted deep into her thoughts. Most likely the goddess wouldn't answer her prayers so she wasn't upset about that she just needed to voice how she felt.

After a few minutes of silent prayer Diana stood and exited the temple making her way back to the palace to her room to read for a bit. Since she had been working in the library for the past few days she had checked out a few books secretly and was able to hoard them in her bedroom. Due to the lack of childbearing on the island the selection that Diana was able to find was very limited but she knew that their people couldn't be clueless on the matter so they had to keep a few books on hand. Knowing this she collected every book on the subject because she figured that they wouldn't be missed and others wouldn't ask for them any time soon.

As she entered the palace she saw that her sisters were still decorating and setting up long tables for prepared food and drink. Phillipus approached her and she saw her coming toward her way. Diana knew if she didn't acknowledge her mother's trusted friend that she'll just be followed all the way to her bedroom.

"Princess, may I have a word with you?" Phillipus put a hand on Diana's shoulder.

"Sure, let us go to my room," Diana left to walk down the hall with Phillipus following swiftly. She opened her door and saw the books were on the bed in plain sight. Closing the door slightly she grinned, "excuse me let me put some things away before you come inside," Diana stepped in as the woman waited outside. She quickly took the books and shoved them under her bed and asked her to enter.

Phillipus entered the room shutting the door and looked around to see if anything caught her eye, but she found nothing.

"So, what did you need to talk to me about?" Diana asked.

"Your mother is concerned about you. She has told me that you gave away your position to Penelope on the training grounds, is that true?"

Diana nodded.

"I see. Why did you do that? She isn't the only one who has been noticing your odd behavior, princess."

Diana sighed, "I am sorry for acting so strange since I came back from Krypton. I just felt like I needed a break from training that's all, it's nothing more than that, honestly Phillipus."

Somehow they both knew that Phillipus wasn't buying into Diana's little excuses. Phillipus knew that Diana had something going on in that little head of hers and being stubborn didn't help at all. She also knew that for Diana to be acting strangely was not normal and she wasn't that good at hiding it either.

"Your definition of honesty must differ from mine, Diana. I have known you since you were a babe and you don't need to hide things from me. Your mother I can understand why, but from me, no," there was an awkward silence in the room now. She sighed, "Well if you need to talk to me you know where to find me. I hope you will be at the festivities tonight Diana, have a good rest of your afternoon." With that she left the room slowly closing the door.

Diana flopped onto her backside upon the bed and exhaled deeply. She knew that she couldn't keep her feelings and thoughts bottled up inside. Phillipus and her mother knew her attitude and pretty much everything about her since they both watched her grow into the young woman she is today.

She then reached under her bed and brought out the books she hid from her good friend. Diana didn't know how to feel and it was going to kill her for not telling anyone about this, but how could she? She definitely couldn't tell her mother or any of her friends. What would they think of her then? Perhaps she may never know until they see her reactions and what about Kal? He was a major part of this situation yet Diana had been avoiding him like the plague.

Diana opened the book in her hands, "okay, chapter one, the female anatomy," she flipped the page and began reading. After figuring out this was an introduction she skipped a few pages and went to chapter four about childbearing. Some of the illustrations were enough to give her nightmares, but she needed to know. Still she wasn't sure if she was actually pregnant, but after reading for the last three days she was pretty positive that she indeed was. Everything was beginning to make sense to her and she hadn't exactly figured out when it happened, but she would find out sooner or later.

* * *

Later in the evening Kal was in his suite getting ready for tonight. Everyone on the island was invited to come meet the Thanagarians and Queen Maxima (again). As he looked at himself in the mirror he was wearing the outfit he had made out of the drapes in his room. A smile came to his lips when he remembered when Diana had complemented him on his attire. Then he realized how much he hadn't seen her this past week. He missed being around her but he got the feeling that Diana didn't want to be around him and he couldn't figure out why. Kal was wondering if he had done something wrong but looking back, nothing came to his mind.

Why was she avoiding him? He knew that she'd be at the party tonight and maybe if he wasn't bombarded with too many people conversing with him, he could get some answers from her. He wanted to know if he had done anything to cross her in any way. Although, if he _had_ done something, he knew that Diana would certainly let him know for sure. Tonight he would get answers from her.

* * *

An alien aircraft landed on Themyscira and there was a slew of amazons waiting on the ground waiting to greet the Thanagarians. They had seen Queen Maxima's aircraft before so they knew it couldn't be her. Hippolyta and her guards were standing in the front as they waited for the aliens to descend from their spacecraft. Two young winged aliens came down from the hangar and one was obviously Shayera and the other Katar Hol.

Hippolyta stepped forward with a smile, "welcome to my home, Shayera and Katar Hol. It is an honor for you both to be here. Everyone has come to join us in the palace for a gathering."

Katar smiled, "thank you for inviting us your majesty. We are honored to be here."

Shayera nodded, "yes, your island is very beautiful as we overlooked it flying over here."

A group of guards showed both of the Thanagarians inside the palace and many bowed and said hello to the winged aliens.

* * *

A couple of hours passed and Maxima had arrived with her entourage. She walked by everyone who greeted her and made her way comfortably into the palace with her escorts. She made eye contact with the Amazon Queen and took that direction to say hello.

"Hello again, Hippolyta. So glad you allowed me to come back to your island."

"Of course, Maxima, you are always welcome here," Hippolyta nodded curtly and smiled at the Almeraci Queen.

Maxima looked around the room trying to scope out someone, "say, where is the Kryptonian prince? Did he leave because I hope not? I had made a date with that man," she smiled widely.

Hippolyta barely resisted the eye roll she desperately wanted to do. She didn't understand why Kal-El was such a desirable male on this island while there were plenty of other men to choose from. Even her own daughter had a slight fascination with him, but recently she noticed that Diana was nowhere near him, which inside she was glad. She knew that the Kryptonian prince was strong and had many gifts but those kind of men could be dangerous in the long run and she was thankful that perhaps Diana had strayed away from that type of man.

"I do not know but I am sure he is here, your highness."

Maxima pointed over the crowd of men and women, "oh, oh! I see him! _Oh_ Kal!" she called out loudly and Kal turned around only to see the Almerac woman making her way through the crowd to get to him.

Kal inwardly sighed and didn't really want to be around that woman. He was having a conversation with a few of his classmates including Dick Grayson.

Dick nudged Kal in the arm, "wow who's that? Looks like she's after you, pal," he snickered along with the others.

"Don't remind me," Kal muttered before Maxima approached him. "Oh hello, Maxima, how are you doing?"

Maxima put her hands on her hips, "oh Kal don't be so modest, let's just skip the formalities." She grinned. The other males around continued to snicker at the woman's brash approach.

"We'll just be over at the food table, Kal," Dick said smacking him on his back. The other men followed Dick and they headed to the food area.

"Thank goodness they are gone and we are now alone. So tell me, how is life with the virgin amazons?" Maxima linked arms with him and forcefully took him to a balcony to talk to him.

Kal didn't want to be anywhere this woman. Although they didn't really talk that much the last time they met he knew this wouldn't end well and he really hoped that Diana was around so he could find an excuse to leave this woman's side.

Diana entered the room and saw many amazons were in the room along with the male students. Soon enough there would be more women from different countries and planets that would be living here studying. She didn't really know if she could handle any more women on this island. It was becoming overpopulated with people as it is.

Her good friend Mala approached her with a glass of wine and smiled. "Diana, I'm glad that you made it! I haven't seen you in quite some time. You should see the royal gardens. You know those men are really handy with the garden tools. I must say I am quite impressed!" She felt quite proud of the gardens now as they looked cleaner and had more flowers planted in some areas.

Diana put her hand up refusing the glass of wine that was offered.

"Well that's a first for you, refusing wine! Gods, what has gotten into you?" Mala joked.

Diana shook her head, "It's not like that, Mala. I think I am going to refrain from drinking any alcohol for a while."

Mala had a shocked expression and downed the glass of wine easily, "wow! Never thought I'd hear that especially coming from you! What is the reason?"

She was contemplating letting out her true thoughts to her friend, but she decided to keep that to herself. "Alcohol clouds the mind and mother always said I drink too much anyway," she shrugged.

"But it's a party, Diana!" Mala laughed. She saw that the princess was not intrigued at all, "well good for you, I suppose. Excuse me I am going to go mingle now," she smiled leaving Diana to be by herself.

Diana smiled at her friend weakly and made her way to the table that was filled with different platters of food. Somehow she didn't feel like eating but knew that she should at least eat something.

Dick saw the princess at the opposite end of the table and made his way over. "Hello, princess! I haven't seen you in a while!"

"Oh hello," Diana greeted the young man and picked up a plate of bread, fruit and assorted cheeses.

He whispered to the princess, "You're a better teacher than Penelope, I must say."

Diana smiled warmly at the young man, "thank you, I appreciate your words, Mister Grayson."

He pointed to a tray of stuffed dates on the far left, "you should try those stuffed dates. They are so delicious!" Smiling he saw the princess didn't look too intrigued by that tray of dates.

"I shall try some later, thank you for pointing that out to me," with that Dick Grayson took his plate and glass and was about to leave her side. "Oh Mister Grayson, have you seen Kal-El?"

Dick turned as he took a bite of the stuffed date, "oh um, I was talking to him earlier but left when the Almeraci Queen approached him. I could tell that she wanted to be alone with him."

Diana felt a sensation of jealousy that she had never felt before in her life. She didn't fancy Maxima and especially didn't want her around Kal at all. Feeling her body become heated from Dick's words she calmed herself down to then ask, "and where might they be, do you know?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know I'm sorry princess. They were over there the last I saw," he pointed over to a secluded corner of the palace.

She set down her plate of food and went to that spot only to find Kal and Maxima alone on a balcony together conversing. Diana wasn't going to sit and let this slide. She didn't want that woman anywhere near Kal so she stormed to the balcony making her appearance known by loudly clearing her throat.

Both Kal and Maxima turned around to see a rather irritated amazon princess.

Maxima smirked, "oh hello there, princess Dayna."

"It's Diana," she folded her arms and frowned.

"Oh right, of course. _Diana_ it is then," Maxima batted her eyelashes at the irate princess.

Kal could feel the tense on the balcony rising at the two monarchs stared at each other intensely. He didn't want to see Diana angry as he had seen that before and he wasn't sure he was ready for two powerhouses to get angry at one another at the moment.

"Diana, so nice to see you here," Kal awkwardly broke the silence.

Diana's eyes darted to Kal and she furrowed her eyebrows at him. Kal knew this wasn't exactly a good sign but it wasn't like he willing came to talk to Maxima. She just kind of dragged him here, but now this was the perfect excuse to leave.

"Diana let me get you a glass of wine," he walked out of the balcony where Maxima was standing alone in now. Diana stared intently at the Queen and refused to move. He looked back and saw she was still standing there staring at Maxima. "Diana?"

She turned and followed Kal before pointing at the Almeraci Queen, telling her in a silent way that this conversation was not yet over.

* * *

They were halfway to the tables when Diana grabbed Kal's arm stopping him from going anywhere. "What were you doing talking to her?"

Kal didn't know what to say. He didn't want Diana angry at him because actually he had done nothing wrong. "Uh, um, I didn't willingly go with her, you know?" He stammered.

"Oh really? What were you two 'casually' talking about then?" Diana folded her arms smirking sarcastically, clearly not showing any mercy for him.

"Honestly Diana, I don't know because I tuned her out a long time ago," he joked but then he saw her face and stopped his joking attitude. "Why do you care anyway? You've been evading me for a whole week," he seriously said.

He then continued to make his way to the drink table and pour Diana a glass of wine. She trailed behind him. He handed her the glass and she refused.

"Refusing my drinks now? What did I do to you, Diana? Just tell me and I'll fix it," he sighed.

Diana couldn't feel but a bit responsible for the way Kal was feeling right now. She didn't want him to feel like he had done something wrong, because he hadn't, or had he? She didn't know the answer to anything at the moment and she certainly couldn't tell him what she was reading or thinking right now.

So she put her hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry I have been avoiding you, Kal. You didn't do anything wrong and I apologize for making you feel that way."

He took a hold of her arm and walked her outside into the royal gardens away from everyone and so they could talk in peace. They walked together in the gardens silently.

"So, tell me, what's been on your mind lately? I'm obviously not the only one you have been secluded from. I noticed that you gave your combat position to Penelope. You're a better teacher than she is, honestly," he smiled.

Diana had to smile at that. It was the second complement she had gotten on her combat training skills in one night, "thank you, Kal. Dick Grayson had said the same earlier."

"You haven't answered my question yet," he stated.

She remembered and then nodded, "yes, well, I just felt like I needed a break from training. I have been helping out in the library now. It is really a lot of work, I never realized." She gave the same excuse to him that she gave Phillipus. She could tell that he wasn't buying her excuse either so she averted her gaze elsewhere.

Kal stopped suddenly and Diana noticed that he wasn't walking alongside her. "What?" she asked.

"Really? You are a bad liar, you know that?" He smirked. He continued walking again with her. "What is the real reason, Diana? You know you can tell me. You trust me right?"

It's not about trust. "Yes."

He awaited for her response patiently.

"I can't tell you," Diana said and now stopped to face him. Both of them gazed into each other's eyes.

Her words confused him and he was a bit taken back by her response. "What do you mean by that? Are you still feeling sick? I told you that you should have gotten that checked out when we came back from Krypton. You could have gotten an illness that you aren't used to on my home planet and if so I can tell my parents if I need to."

Diana put her finger on his lips to make him stop talking. She noticed that when he became nervous he would talk a lot and she couldn't handle that right now. Suddenly feeling a little nauseous she inhaled deeply clutching onto his shoulder.

Kal saw that her face was pale and he raised an eyebrow, "are you alright?"

"Y…yes. Just ignore me."

He chuckled, "I can't ignore you, Diana. Here, sit down," he gestured to the stone bench which they had sat on many times before. She followed his directions and sat down beside him.

"Why are you being so nice to me after I completely evaded you for a week?" Diana asked slowing her breathing to make her nausea subside.

"Why wouldn't I be nice to you Diana? I care about you," he smiled and saw a shocked response. "I care about you," he repeated.

Diana moved closer to him and she felt him put his arm around her as she leaned her head against his shoulder. "I don't I have ever had anyone care about me in the way that you do. It's not really the same like my mother's caring instinct or even Phillipus. Not even like my close friends here on Themyscira, I just really…" she was stopped by his finger coming to her lips.

"You talk too much," Kal said grinning.

"I care about you too, you know," Diana bit her bottom lip as he felt his breathing stop briefly at her words. She looked up and saw he was staring directly at her. Smiling she kissed his lips gingerly.

Their lips parted and he smiled down at the raven haired beauty before him. "What was that for?"

"My way of apologizing, I suppose," she leaned her head back onto his shoulder.

"You should avoid me more often then," Kal jested. "Are you feeling better now?"

Diana nodded and sat straight up now, "Yes, I feel better now that I am around you again. I shouldn't stay away from you for long. It was hurting me inside, but I needed to be alone for a while."

Kal could understand that. He too felt like he needed to be alone sometimes, but he never wanted to intentionally be away from Diana for long periods of time. He enjoyed spending time with her and although the sex was nice, he genuinely cared for her in a way he couldn't really explain. He didn't want to tell her that he would be leaving here very soon to meet Faora, but he knew that he had to. If he waited too long it might be harder for him personally, to leave, but for now he was just enjoying be with her in the gardens alone.

Diana's mind was begging her to tell Kal about what she had been reading and thinking about, but she knew that if she did then he might act differently. They hadn't known each other for a long time and she didn't want a possible child to ruin what they had. Also she was wondering how he would act if he had children with a Kryptonian wife. Would it be different if he had a child with her? She couldn't just sit and wait for unanswered questions swimming in her thoughts so she needed to ask.

"Kal, I know you parents want you to marry a Kryptonian woman," she said softly.

Really, we're going to talk about this right now? This was going to kill the moment. "Yes, what about it? I don't really respect their wishes, but it is the way Kryptonians are. Why do you bring this up, Diana?"

She shook her head, "no reason. And will you have children with that woman, someday?"

He thought about that for a long while, "Perhaps one day. It isn't something I have thought about honestly." He looked at her and frowned, "why the curiosity?"

"I was just asking a question," Diana leaned against his shoulder again. A question that answered everything that she needed to know.

**AN: and so the intensity continues! More to reveal later and will bring in the Thanagarians and Maxima into the next chapter in more depth. Enjoy :)**


	16. Chapter 16

Time

Diana sat with her mother at the table early in the morning. She looked at all of the food in front of her and just found that the glass of tea she had was more appealing. Her mother occasionally glanced over to maybe get a reaction out of her but Diana didn't seem to notice. Diana finally looked up and saw her mother staring straight at her and she didn't know quite how long she had been staring but it was a tad unsettling.

"So mother, where is Maxima and the Thanagarians? They didn't join us at the table," Diana said tapping on the side of her glass.

Hippolyta smirked, "Queen Maxima is on the training grounds taking lessons from Penelope and the Thanagarians are being given a tour of the island. They will join us or rather me, later, since you seem to disappear to the library recently." Her eyes looked over to her daughter who was again avoiding the gaze.

Diana suddenly stood up, "mother do you mind if I leave early?"

"You haven't even eaten anything Diana. I am beginning to worry for your health," her hand reached out and grabbed Diana's out of concern.

"I do eat mother just not when you are around," she reassured her mother with a small smile. "May I leave now? I am needed at the library." She left the table but was soon stopped by Hippolyta's voice once again.

"Diana, why are you spending so much time in the library? I think you've had enough time to recover from your trip."

Diana stood for a few moments in silence. She didn't know what to say exactly, "I figured that I should give someone else a chance to train everybody. Besides, I like working in the library. I shall return to training sometime this week I promise," Diana smiled and quickly exited the palace.

* * *

The truth was that she wasn't going back to the library at all. In fact she was going to go exploring on the island. She had seen pretty much every inch of the island except the Bana side of the island which she had no intention on exploring there. She needed some time to be alone right now and she knew it wasn't really fair to leave Kal in the dark about everything. She definitely didn't want to be around him even though deep inside she desperately wanted to be. Diana contemplated telling Kal about the way she was feeling and everything she had been reading but she didn't know how he would react. It was clear to her last night that Kal was going to marry a Kryptonian woman per his parent's wishes whether she was in the picture or not.

She also knew that they couldn't be together because of both their different cultures and their parents would not approve. Although Diana thought that she was adult enough to make her own decisions and didn't need her mother's guidance on everything especially if it was regarding a man in her life. She knew that her mother didn't want Kal near her because for one, she didn't trust him because he's a male, and two she knew that they were sleeping together.

Hippolyta was not a foolish woman and Diana knew this so she wanted to spend most of her time especially now, away from her. She didn't know how to convey her feelings to Kal, but she felt different whenever she was around him. Diana felt as if she could trust him and he also made her laugh, smile and a little angry at times but he was somehow easy to forgive. The feelings she had been having were more than just the sex they had but they were more than that, they were emotional, yet intimate in a different way.

As she walked deep into the forests on the far east of Themyscira she admired all of the exotic birds and animals she passed by. She enjoyed living on the island with all of her sisters and it hadn't been so different with the male students here and soon to be more female students. If they did not have this program perhaps she would have never met Kal and his parents. She was also thinking about everything she read the past few days and her symptoms seemed to match everything she read but yet she couldn't be too sure. She certainly didn't want to go get checked out by their island's healer because then others might find out. There are hardly any secrets on Themyscira and very few are slipped by the Queen.

Diana wandered deeper into the forest and she came to a small lake. She sat on the grass next to the lake touching the water with her fingertips. In the back of her mind she knew that her body felt unlike it ever did than before. She felt horrible immediately when she woke up and often had to get up in the middle of the night as she suffered from insomnia, which was never a problem for her. She also noticed that her skin was very sensitive to the sun once she stepped outside which was nice working in the library because she was hardly in direct sunlight. She scooted to a nearby tree for some shade just in case, speaking of the sunlight.

Then she took off her sandals and dipped her feet in the warm water, sighing she really wanted to get inside the water. It was nice not to be around anybody for once but she missed being with Kal. Last night reminded her of that and maybe it wasn't so nice of her to question him, but she needed to know that he was actually going to marry a Kryptonian woman. Diana wasn't too convinced that he would actually go through with it but the thought was in the back of his mind for sure. Finally she took off her gown and slid into the water staying underneath the tree being very cautious of the sun. There was a small waterfall on the other side of the lake and she dove beneath the surface of the clear water. The lake wasn't very deep, maybe ten feet. Arising from the water she ran her hair under the small waterfall rinsing her hair with her fingers.

She reached beyond the waterfall and found that there was no rocky wall to hold onto and she stepped through the waterfall and saw that there no wall, in fact there was a dark bottomless-looking pit behind the waterfall. She grabbed a rock and threw it down the dark pit and it seemed to fall forever as she heard nothing a few moments later. Diana didn't think it was such a good idea to go exploring down there so she thought someone should come with her. Her first thought was Kal, but would she really want him around her right now? Maybe not but she couldn't tell her mother, as it might be nothing. Quickly swimming back to the edge of the lake and dressed herself.

Diana flew over the forest and searched for Kal below her and finally after a few minutes of flying she found him talking with Penelope. It seemed like nobody was taking lessons right now so she used that opportunity to fly down and talk to him.

As she landed on the ground Kal turned and saw Diana with windswept damp hair walking towards him and Penelope.

"Kal," Diana smiled, "Penelope hello, may I borrow him for just a moment?"

"Of course princess," Penelope bowed and left to clean the area up.

Kal was taken by Diana's hand and dragged over to the side underneath a large tree. He was surprised that she had come looking for him in front of everyone here.

"What brings you here, princess?" he smiled.

Diana tried to hide her smile, "I need you to come exploring with me."

He was taken aback by this and made a confused face which caused her to laugh a little bit. He hadn't been with her for awhile now and was glad to see her smile and even laugh.

"Come with me, please?" Diana held out her hand. Kal looked around to see if anyone was watching and saw that everyone was minding their own business so he decided to gladly take her hand and lift in the air.

"so where are we going?" Kal asked still holding onto her hand.

"You shall see," Diana said with a smirk.

As Kal was holding Diana's hand he felt like something was different about her and he couldn't pinpoint it yet. He smelled her shoulder and Diana moved away from him suddenly. "Sorry. You smell different." He examined her hand with a raised eyebrow. Diana looked over at him with a puzzled expression.

"What are you doing exactly, Kal?"

He shook his head, "you're different somehow and I don't know what it is."

Diana felt her heart skip a beat and suddenly was feeling very self conscious about Kal holding her hand now. She didn't want him to know anything if there was anything, although if he felt something was off about her then he'd probably figure it out instantly with his enhanced vision. She hoped she didn't make the wrong choice in bringing him here with her.

Finally after what seemed like forever they landed at the spot she was at earlier. Kal looked around and saw that there was a small lake with a small waterfall. He didn't know why she had asked him to come here but it must have been something worthwhile. He turned to find Diana wrapping some giant leaves around a large stick she had found on the ground.

"what are you doing?" he asked.

She tied the leaves around the stick and showed him what she had made, "can you use your heat vision to light this? It is rather dark where we are heading," she smiled sweetly.

Kal sighed and did as she said and saw the leaves slowly burning creating a medium sized flame. Diana then flew over the water and disappeared behind the waterfall. He stared intently and then followed behind her. As he went behind the waterfall he saw that Diana was nowhere near here.

"Diana?" he called out.

She appeared from the darkness with the lit staff and he jumped back.

"Rao, don't do that. I thought something had happened to you!" he frowned.

Diana smiled and floated down deeper into the darkness, "just follow me."

Kal did just that and he stared further into the darkness but even with all of his enhanced vision he wasn't able to see anything. It was somehow blocked from his vision and if he couldn't see it then Diana definitely couldn't see it.

"it is dark down here. Why are we here, Diana?" he asked as he looked around. He felt like they were in the grave as the pit was made of soil. He was starting to feel claustrophobic and it wasn't helping that he was able to hear every little thing in this pit. He could even hear his blood pumping through his veins. Noticing something strange being around Diana he was able to hear something else, a very strange sound. It was almost like a rapid heartbeat and he knew it couldn't be coming from his body. Without Diana knowing he looked into her body and saw something he thought he'd never see coming from within Diana's body. Gasping, he had startled Diana.

"What is it? did you find something?" Diana asked stopping in midflight.

Kal stammered a bit, "ah...ah no I didn't find anything. I just...it's really quiet in here and I am unsure why we are down here," he looked again and saw that there was a small being inside her body. He knew that it wasn't from anyone else so he began to panic inside. He didn't want to alarm Diana and maybe that is why she had been acting so strange around him and being so aloof from everyone. Knowing these strange acts coming from her, he knew that she probably had an idea that she was pregnant. He didn't want to say anything to her, not right now at least.

Diana had finally found the bottom of the pit and it was nothing. They were standing in a twenty foot by twenty four foot pit basically. She looked up with her lit staff and saw Kal was floating above her by six feet.

"Kal?"

Kal looked down and saw she was actually standing on soil so he descended down to join her.

"It seems it just a dark pit. So unfortunate," Diana said shaking her head slightly.

Kal didn't really want to look at her anymore as he was feeling a bit nervous to be around her now. He now understood why she didn't want to be near him but she was probably confused and had nobody to talk to. Of course she couldn't speak to him about this although he thought that she really should. Now he understood why she was asking those questions last night. She wanted to be certain that he'd leave to go back to Krypton. Perhaps she thought it'd be alright to never mention this to him.

"Hello, are you alright?" Diana touched Kal's shoulder and smiled gently. "you look as if you had seen a ghost."

Kal rubbed it off and reassured her that he was fine. "Well it seems that there is nothing here, we should go. I have a class to attend to right now," he lifted in the air and exited the pit leaving Diana down there by herself.

Diana frowned and looked down at the soil hearing voices inside the pit. She knew that she was alone now and Kal wasn't with her. Perhaps it was because it was so quiet down here. A chill went down her spine and that was when she decided to leave.

She put the fire out sticking it under the waterfall and threw the stick to the side. She stepped out from the waterfall and saw Kal was waiting for her on the other side of the lake with his arms folded looking like he was in deep thought. Flying over to his odd stance she touched his shoulder. She finally was felt like she could be around him. Diana felt the most comfortable being around him and she knew he felt the same way deep down.

Diana reached up and kissed him on the cheek, "is something wrong?" she asked in a gentle voice.

Kal smiled as he saw her face. He really did enjoy spending time with her but now he felt like she was untouchable. He was able to hear everything more clearly now that they were out of that dark place. He could hear her heartbeat and the little one inside her body as well. He must have been not paying attention very well as he would have picked up on it earlier. He didn't know when to approach this subject and on how he was going to go about it.

"you are really beautiful Diana, you know that?"

She blushed at those words. She wasn't expecting him to come out and say that randomly. "Thank you, Kal. Well ah, you must be getting back to your classes now, right?"

Kal nodded, "right my classes. Maybe we can see each other later tonight, if you're up for it?"

Diana had to contemplate this and even though she wanted to she didn't know if it was such a good idea. "I think we can, but not near the palace."

"Let us meet outside your window then and we'll go from there?" he smiled feeling hopeful. He kissed her forehead and lifted into the air.

"Oh and Kal," Diana called out. He turned around awaiting for her to speak. He saw that she had a firm expression on her face. "Don't go around Maxima anymore."

He didn't want to argue that he didn't willingly go with Maxima last night but he thought it was best to just nod and leave the area before the mouth got the best of him.

* * *

A few hours later Diana was walking towards the palace and she came into eye contact with Queen Maxima. Trying to avoid talking to her she just kept walking to the palace. She really needed to be alone in her room for awhile and maybe rest before she met with Kal later in the evening. She had yet to decide where they were going to spend their evening but she needed a place that was quiet with nobody around. Since he had installed the electricity on the island everyone had been working later in the day and into the evening. It was nice to have light when you really needed it. Diana thought she needed to thank him for that later, perhaps tonight.

Maxima caught Diana's eye and she smiled making her way over to the princess.

"Oh princess I haven't seen you since last night," Maxima was walking alongside Diana now.

Diana rolled her eyes, "I have been a bit busy. I have things to do on this island you know?"

Maxima smiled deviously, "your mother said you work in the library now and I didn't see you there. I also noticed that you aren't training hand to hand combat anymore, care to explain why?"

"I don't need to explain anything to you, Maxima," Diana kept walking not making eye contact with the Queen.

"Right of course, what was I thinking? Am I not good enough to talk to the Amazon princess?" Maxima knew exactly what to say to get under Diana's skin and it seemed like it was working because she could tell that Diana was becoming very irritated.

"Don't you have some men to flirt with, Maxima?" Diana smirked and went on about her business.

Maxima was slightly annoyed at that comment coming from Diana. She knew that her and the Kryptonian had something going on and whether everyone knew it or not, she definitely knew something was happening with those two. Smiling she followed the Amazon princess casually. She glanced around to see all the men staring at her, more like gawking, which she enjoyed, but she really wanted to see Kal again. She rather enjoyed his company and wanted to have as much time as possible to be around him before she would leave to go back to Almerac.

"Have you seen Kal-El anywhere around here? I have been meaning to talk to him," Maxima smiled and stopped walking behind the princess once she turned around.

"Why do you _need_ to talk with him?"

Maxima shrugged her shoulders, "I just thought the two of us had such a great connection the first time we laid eyes on each other."

Diana couldn't tell if this woman wanted to make her angry or if she was just being sincere. It was confusing her but somehow she knew that Maxima liked to get a rise out of her so she thought that she should stay quiet and not reveal her true feelings for Kal.

"Isn't that lovely?" Diana forcibly smiled at the Queen. "Unfortunately I do not know where he is, sorry I am of no help to you, _your_ _majesty_," she bowed and left swiftly. As Diana came inside of the palace she felt something she had never felt before and that feeling was jealousy. She now realized that she did not want any woman near Kal, especially right now and she certainly didn't want Maxima near him at all. These feelings that she was experiencing this very moment were not feelings she expected to have for a man even though her and Kal had sex very casually.

Diana wanted to spend the rest of her available time alone in her room. She didn't feel like she was being very productive at all and knew that her mother was thinking something was wrong with her. Proceeding to her bedroom she quickly opened the door and shut it immediately sighing as she sat down on her bed. In a few short hours she would meet with Kal and go somewhere quiet, or maybe it wasn't a good idea to be somewhere quiet, she didn't know. Suddenly she was feeling very tired and slowly she closed her eyes. Sleep was tempting her and soon she fell asleep on her side with her gown on and sandals.

* * *

Hippolyta knocked on Diana's door as it was nearing dinner time and their guests would be at the table soon. She wanted Diana to come join everybody at the table since she had been so aloof lately. Once she didn't hear an answer from her daughter she slowly creaked open the door and peeked her head inside. Her eyes glanced around Diana's room and she caught a glimpse of Diana's leg on the bed. Coming inside quietly she smiled seeing her daughter soundly asleep. It had reminded her of when Diana was a baby, sleeping peacefully.

She closed the door lightly and came to sit down next to her daughter who had her mouth open, definitely passed out. Her hand brushed hair away from Diana's face and her fingertips glided against her daughter's cheek. As she was about to leave the room to come back at a later time her foot hit something underneath the bed. With a frown she reached under the bed and pulled out two books.

Looking closely she saw Diana had been keeping books from the library about the female anatomy and medical illnesses. Hippolyta reached down further and found four other books stashed beneath the bed. Glancing up she saw Diana turn over slightly in her sleep and breathe heavily as she laid her head on the palm of her hand, readjusting her position. Exhaling softly she to a good look at the other books Diana had hidden under her bed and saw that they were about childbirth and expecting mothers. Hippolyta raised an eyebrow and had forgotten that the island had such books, she thought they'd be gone by now, but guess not. The Queen wondered why Diana was reading material like this and she knew her daughter had been acting strangely. Suddenly feeling angry knowing why Diana would have these books hidden she immediately thought of the Kryptonian Prince. Oh no, he was not going to get away with something like this.

Taking one of the books with her she exited Diana's bedroom closing the door quietly. She needed to find Phillipus right away, dinner can wait. Storming down the hallway she was scoping out all of the royal guards and found Phillipus by herself on a balcony overseeing the royal gardens.

"Phillipus I need to speak with you," Hippolyta interrupted the quiet moment.

Phillipus turned and saw the Queen was holding a book in her hand. Making a confused face she folded her arms, "what is it Hippolyta?"

"I found this under Diana's bed when I went into her room a few moments ago. She is sleeping as of now," Hippolyta held the book out for the dark skinned woman to take.

The woman took a good look at the title of the book and raised her eyebrows nodding her head, understanding why the Queen had come to her.

"The princess could be pregnant, no?" Phillipus flipped the pages in the book looking at the illustrations and paragraphs of information.

Hippolyta overlooked the garden and balled up her fists, "she better not be or I will murder that Kryptonian."

"Perhaps it is best that we do not tell the princess that we know of her stash of books. We shall wait," she put a hand on her friend's shoulder for comfort.

Hippolyta raised an eyebrow at her dear friend, "wait to slay him personally you mean?," the Queen swiftly turned and left to go to her bedroom on the other side of the palace. She needed to prepare herself to face the Thanagarians and Queen Maxima, ugh that woman, she thought.

* * *

Diana woke up with a slight headache and she glanced over at her window and saw it was dark outside. She rubbed her eyes and sat up slowly groaning. Finally able to stand after a few minutes of getting herself together, she swayed to the side and held onto her bed column.

"Gods, I am so off," she mumbled to herself. She walked over to her wardrobe and pulled out a skirt and halter top. Slipping out of her gown she put the outfit on and stared at herself in the mirror. Her midriff was exposed and she sighed at her reflection. Her mother was right, she didn't eat a lot and now it showed. She was noticeably thinner than her normal slender yet muscular frame. All that she cared about now was seeing Kal. Just thinking of him a smile came to her lips which she hide with her fingers.

She opened her curtains and looked down hoping to see Kal waiting for her on the ground. Diana's smile widened as she saw him leaning against the palace wall playing with something in his hands. She flew down to meet him and he smiled at her kissing her on the forehead.

"I brought this for you," he handed her a small flower, "I just picked it earlier."

"Thank you, Kal," she tucked the flower in her hair behind her ear.

Kal's eyes glanced at Diana's attire and her body. He was surprised that she was dressed this way and his eyes widened.

"Wow, you look..wow. you should dress like that more often," he was speechless. They walked together as Diana was leading the way he couldn't help but peek inside her body to see the life growing within her. He didn't know if he should mention it to her or not, but maybe it was best to just wait. He didn't know how to approach such things and he didn't know if she knew what was going on. Neither one of them knew anything about children and as far as he knew Diana told him she couldn't have children so this was shocking to him. He also knew that she hadn't been with any other man beside him, so that was one thing he was sure of.

As they continued to walk together and he knew this path, they must be heading to the Bengal village again, which he didn't seem to mind. His mind was elsewhere anyway.

"I hope you don't mind coming here, I miss coming here and I feel like I have been avoiding many others. I know that my mother kind of found out about us here, but now I just don't care, you know?" Diana winked and she held his hand walking towards the fire.

Both sat down on the ground which was covered in old rugs and pillows. He noticed that these people didn't really take advantage of the electricity, but he knew that some people would never change. To be honest he liked sitting here with Diana in the dark surrounded by a wild fire. Staring at her while she got up from the ground to grab some water, he could only imagine how she must feel right now. She must feel very confused, alone and shocked, kind of like how he felt, but her experience must be worse. Everything started to sink in once the picture of Hippolyta came to mind then he saw his parents face too. He didn't want to think about them right now.

"Kal I brought you some wine," Diana smiled handing him the glass.

Kal came out of his daze, "oh, thank you," he sipped his wine. He glanced over and saw Diana was only drinking a glass of water and just to test her he asked, "only drinking water tonight, Diana?"

Diana looked over sipping on her water, "it is...a better alternative to alcohol. I have come to the realization that I drink too much," she kept telling herself this and hoped that Kal wouldn't catch her lie.

Lies, he thought. Smirking he continued drinking his wine. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. It was making him very uncomfortable the more he thought about it and since he could readily see under her skin literally it was becoming very bothersome.

"Diana?"

"Hm?" she leaned against his body and she felt him sigh loudly.

"Is there something you want to tell me?"

Diana sat up, "like what, Kal?"

Wow, she was really stubborn, but he could understand why. "Why you've been acting so out of character lately? Not eating, skipping training exercises? Not to mention you have been avoiding me for a while. I just want to make sure you are alright."

Diana could tell that he was getting very serious and he wasn't going to stop asking her these questions. He knows, she thought.

"I..."


	17. Chapter 17

Royal Flush

"Diana?"

"Hm?" she leaned against his body and she felt him sigh loudly.

"Is there something you want to tell me?"

Diana sat up, "like what, Kal?"

Wow, she was really stubborn, but he could understand why. "Why you've been acting so out of character lately? Not eating, skipping training exercises? Not to mention you have been avoiding me for a while. I just want to make sure you are alright."

Diana could tell that he was getting very serious and he wasn't going to stop asking her these questions. He knows, she thought.

"I..."

* * *

Hours earlier

After Kal met with Diana to go exploring as she called he couldn't stop thinking of what he saw inside her. A tiny life growing within her and it confused him. He remembered specifically when Diana told him that she couldn't have children and now look what happened, he thought. Kal couldn't wrap his head around this and that image and sound kept replaying in his head like a broken record player. He decided not to go to his classes for the rest of the day, he was ahead of everyone anyway and knew that he wouldn't be missed with all the other students.

For the last hour after meeting with Diana he remained in his room sitting on the window ledge just in deep thought. He was peeling off the skin of an apple he picked off of a tree because of his nervousness. He didn't know what to even say to Diana. Kal knew that he needed to approach the subject eventually and she couldn't hide this forever. Now that his emotions were rolling he was becoming a bit angry that Diana hid this from him and from her mother. He wondered if she was ever going to talk to him about this or maybe when he was supposed to leave -oh that's right, he didn't tell her he was going to leave. Nice going Kal, he inwardly slapped himself.

"Pregnant," Kal mumbled to himself. "How...what...Rao, what I am going to tell my parents? And what about Hippolyta?" He didn't want to think of Hippolyta's reaction because it was probably going to be worse than his parents' reactions for sure. He was positive about that! He looked down at the fully peeled apple and sighed, taking a bite into the naked fruit. He was really letting his nerves get the best of him. Hopefully he would see Diana later tonight and maybe he could bring it up then.

* * *

Currently

"Yes, Diana?" Kal was waiting for her answer patiently and she seemed to be a little anxious yet worried he could tell in her face. "You can tell me anything Diana, _anything_," he emphasized that last part and he smiled at her.

Diana was studying his face and by that look she could tell he knew something but didn't know if he knew exactly what was going on. His eyes were calm but his face stern yet friendly. Diana didn't know what to think and so she crossed her legs thinking about her answer.

Kal could tell that she was beyond nervous, a new side he saw from her. He never thought this fierce warrior would express such emotions. He sat up straighter and brought her body close to his.

"Okay, I'll confess to something then. Earlier today when we inside that dark pit you brought me to, I heard a sound, a strange sound," he looked down to see if she was listening and she was quiet and very still. "I also saw something as well."

Diana's body tensed up as he continued to speak.

He cleared his throat, "I ah...I saw...someone else was with us in the pit and it wasn't an adult is what I'm trying to say." He could tell by his choice of words this wasn't making anything easier so he was just going to go for the blunt statement and reap his consequences if necessary. "You're pregnant."

Diana sat still for a few moments and she moved away from his body and looked into his eyes. His face was unreadable to her.

She finally spoke aloud, "you...you know? So it's true.." she mumbled to herself. Feeling a bit relieved knowing the truth she was able to relax a bit. Now reverting her attention back to Kal she couldn't imagine what was going on inside of his head right now. It was probably just the same as hers -a mess.

Kal scooted closer to her, "why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Diana stammered, "well...I...I didn't know if it was really..if I, was really pregnant. I didn't know what to do Kal. I didn't want you to be angry with me and I am already angry at myself as it is."

"I can't ever be angry at you, unless you beat me in a training exercise," he smiled trying to lighten the conversation. He was able to get a small smile from her. "Now, who's going to be angry is your mother and my parents."

She nodded her head. She didn't really want to think about that but knew that situation would arise very soon, sooner than she may think.

"But how do you feel about this?" she asked honestly.

And he answered honestly, "I don't know. It seems very...odd to me. A Kryptonian and an Amazon baby, you know? It's unheard of," he smirked. He saw that was not the answer she was looking for so he became more serious about this, "I can't change what has happened and neither can you, and neither can our parents. I will stay here if you'd like regardless of what my parents say. I highly doubt that they would accept you to marry me especially since we skipped..ah...a few steps."

Diana nodded leaning against his broad chest now. "we don't need to tell them yet, Kal. It can be our secret for just a little while longer."

"If that's what you want, Diana." He wrapped his arm around her slender frame.

"It is. I don't want to face my mother's wrath right now."

Kal began to think of his trip back to Krypton in two months and that was now a little bit out of the question. If he still needed to go he needed to tell Diana about this, especially considering the situation.

"there's one more thing I need to say, Diana," he began.

"Yes?"

He sighed audibly, "before we left to come back to Themyscira, my parents told me to come back to Krypton in two months to meet a woman named Faora for a potential marriage arrangement."

Diana sat up staring at him feeling a little bit of angst. "What? You're not going to go are you? I need you here."

He shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, I mean, I don't know _now_. I didn't want to go in the first place but with this news we'll need to tell them sooner rather than later."

"This is such a disaster."

"It doesn't have to be, princess," Kal smiled. "Until your mother finds out, then it'll be a disaster."

"Can we not talk about her right now? This is all making me very ill," she shook her head just thinking of her mother.

* * *

The following morning Diana was laying down in her bed waking up to the bright sunlight in her bedroom. She yawned and saw she was still in her same clothes that she wore last night. She didn't exactly remember the rest of the evening with Kal or how she even got here. She hoped that she did not fall asleep on him, although she would think that it wouldn't bother him if she did. After all that talk of her mother she knew that she'd be waiting for her at the table and the guests were supposed to be leaving today so she needed to make an appearance to the table at least.

Changing her clothes and cleaning herself up she head down to the dining hall and saw her mother was sitting alone at the table with no Maxima and no Thanagarians. This seemed a bit odd to her but she made her way down anyway.

Hippolyta looked up and locked eyes with her daughter who was wearing a short white gown and sandals with her hair in a long braid.

"you look tired, Diana," she continued to eat her food on her plate.

Diana pulled the chair out and sat down carefully, feeling a bit of tension in the room. "I didn't get a lot of sleep." She poured herself a glass of water and watched her mother eat in silence. "Where are the Thanagarians and Maxima?"

"they left early," Hippolyta answered curtly.

Diana now knew something was wrong with her mother because she was being short with her and not very talkative at all.

"Oh I see. Well I think I will return to my training duties today so I can relieve Penelope from my station," she grabbed some bread placing it on her plate.

"I don't think that will be happening, Diana." She glanced up and glared at her, scanning her daughter's face and body.

Diana was confused at this and raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean? I am well enough now. I can go back to my regular routine."

"Can you?" the Queen mother took a sip of her water from her glass, staring intensely.

Diana put her food down and set her arms on the table, "what is the matter with you? Have I done something wrong? If so please tell me now so I can fix it," she was getting a little irritated by her mother's tone and attitude towards her now.

"I don't know why don't you ask your sperm supplier, Kal-El," Hippolyta's voice became laced with anger.

Diana couldn't believe something like that had come out of her mother's mouth. She didn't know if she should be angry, surprised or confused at what was going on.

"Excuse me?" Diana said quietly.

"Diana stop it. Stop playing this game with me. I know exactly what is going on. I know that you're pregnant and I know it is yours and Kal's so just stop with these charades of yours."

Diana's worst nightmare had come true. This was actually happening and she didn't know if she should feel embarrassed or not. She was speechless for once. Now all she could think about was Kal and what her mother was going to do to him.

Hippolyta shook her head, "I should have never let men allowed on this island again."

This caught Diana's attention. She must be speaking of her younger sister, Antiope. If she was going to be like this, Diana can play this game too.

"Like what happened to your sister, Antiope and our sisters long ago?"

Hippolyta looked up and was stunned at her daughter's response. "How do you know about that?"

"I know more than you think, mother. I know what happened to her, to an extent at least," she didn't want to give away too much information. "and now I know why the Bana Amazons dislike you. You are treating me like you treated those women many years ago." Diana stood up and left the table. She didn't want to talk to her mother any longer as she knew where it might lead to.

"Diana, come back here, this conversation is not finished!" She stood from her seat as she watched her daughter blatantly walk away from her.

"I think it _is_ done, mother." Diana left the palace as she wanted to be alone right now.

Phillipus came into the room and stood next to her dear friend. "Did it go well?"

Hippolyta sighed, "I don't think so. She left before I even said anything. She knows about Antiope and gods knows what else about the past of this island."

"If she left because she is angry I know where she will be. In her favorite spot when she was a child. She is scared Hippolyta, yelling at her like a monarch will not help. She needs a mother," she set her hand on Hippolyta's shoulder for comfort.

* * *

Diana walked out of the forest and onto the beach to sit on the warm white sands of the island. She didn't expect that conversation to go well with her mother but she didn't expect something like that to happen either. For now she wanted to be alone and what about Kal? She was sure that her mother was going to kill him now.

A few minutes later she saw a shadow behind her and turned around to see her mother standing there with a sorrowful face. Diana frowned and almost got up to leave.

"Wait," Hippolyta put her hand on daughter's shoulder and she sat down next to her on the white sand.

"Are you here to tell me I have made yet another stupid decision or to ridicule me some more?" Diana asked drawing in the sand with her finger.

"No, I'm not going to do that," she looked out at the ocean in front of her and felt the breeze on her face, brushing the hair away from her face. She hadn't been on the beach in such a long time she couldn't remember the last time she was here especially with Diana.

Diana needed to know this so she asked, "_how_ did you find out?"

Hippolyta continued to look at the open waters, "I found some books underneath your bed and you were acting very bizarre even for you," she smiled weakly and turned to see Diana not sharing the same expression as her. "As a mother I want to protect you and it seems I have failed in that aspect regarding teaching you about men and...sex. Which you do not really need a lesson about that from me, I'm sure."

"No thank you," Diana felt disgusted even talking about sex with her mother. It's her mother, really.

Her mother smiled at that response. "I am more angry at myself for letting this happen again. If it were to happen again, I didn't want it to happen to you." She sighed and continued, "I can't say I am not disappointed, but I don't think any less of you, Diana."

"Good, considering our sisters like to lay with men all the time."

Hippolyta blinked, "what?"

"What?" Diana responded promptly.

"Anyway," the Queen shook that thought out of her head for now. She shall come back to it another time. "You could not keep this a secret from everyone you know? At least not for very long."

Diana nodded. She already knew this but hadn't taken that into consideration at the moment. It was kind of hard dealing with all these emotions at once.

Hippolyta laid a hand on Diana's abdomen, "you also need to eat more, you're too thin. Kal's parents need to know about this," she pat her daughter's shoulder and then sat up lending a hand to her.

Diana looked up and eventually took her mother's hand to stand and they walked back to the palace.

* * *

Later in the day Kal was walking around just finishing a class with some students and Diana caught his eye standing under a tree fiddling with a plant stem. He made his way over to her casually, or as casually as he could.

"How are you feeling? You passed out on me last night," he smiled.

Diana's face flushed and she covered her mouth with her hand, "sorry I didn't know."

"That's alright, I put you back in your bed."

So that's what really happened, she thought. "Kal, we need to talk about...you know."

He looked around and they went somewhere with less ears around and they were behind a building.

She began, "my mother knows and she suggests that we tell your parents immediately."

Kal could feel his face pale as she soon as she said 'my mother knows'. He's going to die, he thought. That woman is downright scary sometimes.

"Kal?"

"Oh yes, of course...your mother is going to mantle me on her wall in her bedroom."

Diana laughed aloud and he frowned at her burst of laughter.

"This isn't funny, Diana! I am being serious!" he groaned.

She stopped her laughter and calmed herself down, "she isn't going to kill you. She might hate you for awhile but I'd say that's a lot better than being dead!" She grinned widely finally feeling like her normal self again.

"Feeling funny are we?" Kal sarcastically noted while folding his arms.

"I think it might be best if your parents came here and spoke with my mother," she said on a serious note. "they need to know, Kal," she put a hand on his face, cupping his cheek in her hand. He touched her hand and sighed.

"Yes, I know they need to know. They are going to be very upset. If I try to send a message to Krypton inside the palace is your mother going to kill me?"

Diana smiled and linked arms with him, "not if I am with you she's not," she winked.

"Great, I feel so much better now."

**AN: sorry kind of short but I didn't want to fit in too much in this chapter as that can be saved for later lol. I also wanted Hippolyta to be a little more understanding instead of so angry at her daughter for what she "did". Enjoy! :)**


	18. Chapter 18

Blind leading The Blind

Kal and Diana walked into the palace immediately catching a glare from Queen Hippolyta herself. It was almost like she was standing there waiting for them all this time. Other guards were standing in the room as well when Diana approached with Kal standing by her side. Diana glanced up at Kal and could tell he was beyond nervous and he was staring straight at her mother's face, which wasn't really a pleasant one at that. She grabbed his hand behind their backs and squeezed it tightly.

She whispered, "don't worry Kal, nothing will happen to you, I told you this. She already knows everything so need to worry about you 'disappearing'," she giggled.

Kal looked down at Diana's face and didn't find anything amusing about this situation at hand.

Queen Hippolyta sent the other Amazons out of the room and they all exited closing the doors. Now all three of them were in the main room -alone. Now the two young adults were standing a few feet away from her. She didn't know if she should reprimand them or refrain herself from the foul words that she was thinking of. Inside she definitely wasn't calm and she acted cool and collected with Diana earlier, but she didn't know if she could act the same with _him_ in the room now.

"Please, sit you two," Hippolyta gestured to two seats across from her. She wasn't going to sit on her throne as this wasn't something a monarch should fix especially on this island. She needed to act like a mother right now, not a Queen.

Kal thought he should say something but he didn't know how to begin at all. Oh sorry your majesty, I impregnated your daughter. No, he definitely shouldn't say that, at all. Luckily Diana started talking and he felt a sigh of relief. It was getting tense in this room especially with Hippolyta staring directly at him.

"Mother, I just want you to know that this is not only Kal's fault, but my own too. You shouldn't blame him for something, like this, that ultimately takes two people..."

Hippolyta's gaze turned to her daughter now, "I am aware of how to make children, Diana."

Kal finally got some words out of his mouth, barely, "I...I'm sorry," he stuttered.

Hippolyta scoffed, "you shouldn't apologize to me, Kryptonian. You should apologize to Diana for what you have done to her. She has been nothing but ill for the last week or so. Look at her, she is a rail!" She frowned, her voice rising as she spoke passionately.

"I didn't know...know that she would get pregnant. Diana told me it was impossible," Kal explained.

Hippolyta creased her eyebrows and pinched her bridge of her nose tightly, sighing wearily. "You told him that?" Her voice directed at Diana now.

Diana was at a loss of words, "I...I thought it was true. That's what you told me when I was a young woman!"

"Foolish girl!" Hippolyta stood up feeling her blood rising as anger was now setting in. She began walking away from the situation, staring outside of a nearby balcony. She called her past self a 'young woman' and she is _still_ a child in her mother's eyes of course. She had no idea how the world really works and how to handle tough situations. Perhaps this was a good thing that has happened to Diana and she will learn true responsibility now that she has been sheltered from. Returning to the chair facing Diana and Kal-El she was feeling a bit more calm now. She didn't really want to blow up at them even though it would be so easy to do so. One thought was still lingering in her mind and that was how Diana knew about Antiope, her younger sister. She wanted to ask Diana about that, but this might not be the appropriate time.

"Diana you can have children, but not by a human male. I didn't think to tell you since I didn't really think that an alien male would be inviting you into bed with him. Perhaps I am the foolish one," she shook her head.

Diana and Kal exchanged a worrisome look and felt the tension rising in the room. They felt like they were little kids being chastised by one of their parents and this case, they sort of were in a strange way.

"women have been having children for centuries mother, even the gods have children. Why is it so different that it has happened to me?" Diana asked and in a response she got her mother frowning at her. She might have awoken the beast within now.

Hippolyta folded her arms, "yes, I am not stupid, Diana. It is a cycle of life after all," her voice laced with sarcasm at the end of her sentence. The only reaction she got was Diana blinking confusedly at her. "you had so much potential Diana. You are the princess of Themyscira, a great warrior of our people and most pure. What will our sisters think of you now?"

"If my sisters love me they will accept me for who I am, not my personal actions behind closed doors. I still am the princess of our people and a great warrior. Why can't I have both?"

The Queen sneered, "_both_? You want both? You have never seen the world and I mean really see it, Diana. There is great misery beyond this island and the fantasy world in that little head of yours, you think _this_ is alright. Women can be killed if they were in your position right now, do you understand that?"

Diana can understand why her mother would upset at her for something like this, but she wasn't those women, she was a different person. She began to think about others around her more and more especially since she had met Kal. Although they hadn't known each other very long she felt different and that wasn't just because she was carrying their child. She hadn't thought about other women in the world outside of the island's walls until her mother said that. Suddenly she felt very spoiled and privileged in the life that she lived. Her mother was right about one thing, women around the world needed help. The council was a great thing to have on earth, it gave other worlds the opportunity to connect with one another, but were they all really helping the world? No, probably not. That was going to be explored later, so she set it in the back of her head for now.

Hippolyta continued, "besides you forgot one minor detail," Kal and Diana bated what the Queen was going to say. "The Els. They will be a part of this too. This is not something you both need to keep from a secret as you might have done if I hadn't found out early on."

Kal was letting everything sink in now. He was listening to Hippolyta's words and although they weren't exactly encouraging, she did have a point in many areas especially regarding his parents. How was he going to tell them about this? He didn't know how to tell them and how they would react. Thinking of his mother he immediately thought of her initial reaction and it wouldn't be pretty.

"Your mother is right, Diana. We need to tell them as soon as possible. I need to contact them, preferably right now," Kal said standing up from the chair he was sitting in.

Diana stood up as well, "how will you do that? Go to earth to contact them from there?"

He shook his head, "no the electrical box I installed in every room can also contact Krypton when needed." He went over to the box and began typing in a code that would connect to his family's computer in a matter of seconds.

Hippolyta sighed pouring herself a glass of wine to ease her nerves, "I hope you will not tell them over that...box you have there. They should be told in person."

Kal turned to look at the Queen drinking some wine. He saw the back of her head but instantly knew her reaction without having to directly look at her. It was like she reading his mind and he didn't really want them here honestly, but she was right.

"Of course not, your highness," he smiled nervously and connected the transaction. The connection was now complete and he could hear some fumbling in the background. "Is anyone there?"

It was the sound of his mother's voice that came through, "Oh Kal, I am so happy to hear from you."

"Right me too, mother, listen..."

"I hope you're almost done on that island to come back home and meet Faora. I was meaning to contact you within the next few days, isn't that coincidence?"

He sighed, "yes mother, quite a coincidence." He could tell how this was going to go now.

"Anyway, I wanted to tell you that Faora is here now and she would like to meet you immediately. She is very intrigued about you and I think you will really like her, Kal."

Hippolyta laughed, "Oh I bet she would."

There was a long pause during the call. "Who is that?" Lara asked suspiciously.

"Queen Hippolyta, mother," Kal said quietly. He looked over and saw Diana was very stiff and didn't know what to do or what to say. She was feeling uneasy just listening to Lara's happy calm voice.

"Oh," Lara paused, "hello Hippolyta."

Hippolyta smiled, "greetings Lara," she took a swig of her wine. She was secretly enjoying this anticipation that was very noticeable from her daughter and her man.

"who else is there? Can everybody hear me?" Lara asked in a sweet voice.

Kal sighed, "yes mother and Diana is here too. Listen I need to talk to you in person."

"Good, you can come back to Krypton when it is applicable for you and meet Faora while you're here," her voice was stern but kind.

Diana rolled her eyes and smacked her palm on her forehead in angst. She didn't want this conversation to go on any longer. She was about to step in for herself if this woman didn't keep quiet for a few minutes.

"No mother I don't think you understand. I can't come back to Krypton right now. Could you perhaps come here to Themyscira so we can converse?"

Diana noticed a different tone of voice from Kal when he spoke to his parents, especially his mother. He was more serious, but this was different. Not like when she was on Krypton with him, this was a worrisome serious tone.

Lara sighed, "is it so urgent that you cannot just tell me right now, Kal?"

"Yes mother it is urgent. You and father need to come here as soon as possible."

Lara recognized a very firm voice from her son and when she heard that, this news definitely couldn't be good news. It better not have anything to do with Diana, she thought instantly.

"Alright," she paused for a while, "your father and I will leave tonight and be there tomorrow morning."

Kal finally felt a sense of relief that this conversation was closing and he would have to stop hearing about Faora.

"Thank you, I shall see you then." The connection was cut off instantly without a goodbye from his mother.

Diana left out a loud sigh, "that was stressful," she relaxed in her chair.

Hippolyta smiled at her daughter and then to Kal when he took his seat again. "They are not even here yet and you are already stressed out? Forgive me but this is rather amusing," she finished the last half of her glass and stood from her seat. "Excuse me, I am going to go see the Bana about a matter that I need to settle. Don't do anything foolish...oh seems it is too late for that is it not?" She exited the room leaving the two distraught adults.

* * *

Diana had invited Kal into her bedroom while no one was looking. They laid together on her bed, fully clothed for once. Diana was not even in the same mind as she was a few hours ago before they conversed with her mother. Suddenly she felt lost, afraid and anxious all at the same time. Both sat on her bed for two hours without speaking to one another. They were in deep thought about everything and didn't know what to say to each other since their meeting with Hippolyta. Now that the Kryptonians were coming here in the morning, they felt an odd tension building in the room together.

"Diana?" Kal began quietly.

"Yes?" she was staring up at her marble ceiling.

"Do you feel that we have done something wrong, because I do not but it seems that your mother thinks so and I know my parents will feel the same way."

She sighed, "I do not know anymore. I didn't know how I felt a few days ago verses how I feel now. Before I was confused and lost and now I am still confused and lost."

"We can be confused and lost together," he smiled grabbing her hand. "I honestly do not know how my parents are going to react tomorrow, but the important thing is that I will be there with you."

Diana sat up leaning against her headboard. "Kal, it doesn't matter if you are with me or if I am with you. This affects my people and yours. I am not saying that is a mistake but it is a challenge so far."

He agreed, "yes it is, but we are both responsible. You shouldn't have to take on all of these feelings and thoughts by yourself."

"Don't you see? My mother is right. My sisters will probably think less of me now that I have laid with a man. I may be the princess, but a poor one I am." She folded her arms feeling a bit irritated with herself.

Kal sighed and sat up scooting closer to her. "I read that in ancient Grecian times the greatest female warriors would bear children with male warriors to create another fierce warrior. It was a great asset to their people at the time."

"Too bad if the child was weak, the mother would kill it," Diana killed the point Kal was going for and he frowned.

"That wasn't what I was trying to say, but if you want to take it that way, alright," he scooted away from her looking out the large window.

Diana understood what he was trying to say, but she wasn't really in the mood for some cheering up. This was really waking her up into the reality that her mother was trying to tell her about most of her young life. She was more upset with herself than anyone, but she couldn't be upset at Kal, not even at a time like this.

"I'm sorry," Diana mumbled.

Kal turned his head to see her with folded arms looking very stubborn as usual.

"I just can't be joyful about any of this until I hear your parents' reactions. I can't be at peace with myself until everyone else is at peace."

"We can only dream for peace, Diana."

She began staring at the ceiling again, "I want to make this world peaceful for not only myself and you, but for every woman, child _and_ man. And our child. I want to change this world so nobody should suffer any longer. I want to see this misery my mother speaks of," she looked at him and he looked rather shocked at her little speech.

"Can we just get through tomorrow first?" he blinked.

She was getting ahead of herself here and she smiled. "Right, tomorrow."

"Right. Then you can save the world."

Kal turned off the lights inside the room and was about to leave so Diana could sleep in peace, or as much peace as possible.

"I was being serious, Kal."

"Yes, I know you were," he smiled in the moonlight.

* * *

The following morning Jor and Lara-El were invited into a private room away from prying eyes requested by Queen Hippolyta. The guards had shown them to the room where Hippolyta was waiting sitting a chair pouring glasses of water for everyone. Diana and Kal were not yet in the room.

Jor looked around the room, "very nice room you have here, Hippolyta."

"Thank you, please sit down."

"Where is Kal?" Lara asked immediately.

"He and Diana will join us in a few minutes," Hippolyta smiled curtly.

"Diana?" Jor asked. He thought that this conversation was between his wife, him and their son but apparently Diana was joining in.

Diana and Kal were making their way down the hall to meet everyone in the private quarters. Diana felt Kal's hand and he was actually sweating. She could tell he was more nervous than she was.

"Kal? Are you alright?"

He breathed in heavily, "do I _look_ alright to you?"

They came into the room and the guards outside shut the large mahogany doors behind them. There was Kal's parents sitting next to each other across from Hippolyta. This was a bad idea, Kal thought, a very bad idea.

"Kal. Diana. Why don't you both sit down?" Hippolyta said gesturing to the seats across from the Els. Both sat down slowly and tried to keep their gaze away from the Els. Their stares were intense but not intentionally intimidating, they just were.

"thank you for coming here on short notice," Kal started the conversation.

"What is it that we are discussing as I can see that we are not alone?" Jor asked feeling puzzled.

"Well...this is about Diana and myself, father," Kal began steadily.

Diana felt nervous just sitting next to Kal. He didn't like the way his mother was looking at her so she averted her gaze elsewhere. She didn't want to look at her mother either as she felt shameful.

"You and Diana?" Lara asked. "What does she have to do with anything?"

There was a long pause between everybody in the room. Kal didn't know what to say and he knew that Hippolyta wasn't going to say it for him so he just blanked.

Diana's eyes went from Kal, her mother, to Jor-El to Lara-El. She couldn't take this silence anymore.

"I'm pregnant," she bluntly announced.

There was a long moment of silence then the Els burst out laughing.

Kal and Diana furrowed their eyebrows, now very perplexed. They didn't understand why the Els were laughing. Hippolyta poured herself a glass of wine and began sipping minding her own business.

"Good for you, princess. Now what is it you wanted to tell us, Kal?" Lara spoke as her laughter died down.

Kal cleared his throat, "I don't think you both understand. Diana is pregnant," he emphasized the word 'pregnant.' Maybe they would get it now.

"We've already established that," Jor folded his arms.

Kal shook his head looking at the floor beneath him. How was it that his parents were so dense?

"Let me rephrase this for you two. Diana and _I_ are pregnant. She's pregnant with my child. Mine. Do you understand..._now_?"

The news was finally starting to sink into the El's brains now and both their facial expressions went from amusement to frustration and anger.

Hippolyta handed Lara a glass of wine, "you might need this," she held out the glass and Lara flicked it away from her and it spilled all over the floor.

Lara then stood from the chair, "Kal-El how ignorant of you? You are not even old enough to handle your own responsibilities and now you...you got her pregnant! You cannot breed with..._her_!"

"She is not of Kryptonian blood!" Jor said aloud.

"Does it really matter if she is not Kryptonian? The child will be half Kryptonian," Kal said.

Lara's mouth gaped, "Half? _Half_? Are you even from the same planet as us, Kal-El?" she folded her arms, pacing the room. "That child is a burden to us all now, look what you two fools have done. Babies having babies. How _wonderful_," she rolled her eyes.

"I see. Okay. So what shall we do now?" Kal asked after his mother's little tirade.

Jor stood up and Lara stopped pacing the room. "Either you come back to Krypton and forget about her and the child or you stay here and are not allowed to come back to Krypton."

Hippolyta stepped in, "That is a harsh punishment. Not even I would say such a thing."

"This is Kryptonian law, Hippolyta," Jor turned to the Amazon Queen.

Hippolyta stood up and walked over to the Els, "your laws do not apply on _my_ island."

"you support this?" Lara said exasperated.

"I did not say that but if you shut your son out it will only create problems between me and your people, mostly. I do not think it is wise to give both, my daughter, and your son, a harder decision than what has already been hard enough. I would rethink your punishment" she titled her chin staring at the El Queen.

"This is heresy!"

"Your 'punishment' affects not only Kal-El but my daughter as well. Do you not care for other beings other than your own? That is rather deceiving to those who look at the Kryptonians as giving people, don't you think so?"

There was a long moment of complete silence. The Els didn't know whether to reply with a snide remark or to think about what Hippolyta was actually saying.

Jor sighed, "Kal cannot stay here with Diana forever. He will need to come back to Krypton and marry a Kryptonian wife. It will look bad on our family if he appears with...an Amazon who is not married to him on our planet."

"Are you so self centered to think this will not look bad on my family and people as well?" Hippolyta added.

"Maybe we don't have to live on Krypton or Themyscira," Diana spoke finally, breaking the argument between the royals.

"What?" Jor, Kal and Hippolyta all said at once.

* * *

**AN: sorry for the cliffhanger, but I don't want to reveal too much! The Els know now and Hippolyta was actually defending Kal and Diana, what a concept? Enjoy :)**


	19. Chapter 19

Spread the Wings and Fly

The room was quiet once Diana spoke of not living on Themyscira or Krypton. Everyone was staring at her strangely especially the Els. She wasn't sure if she should speak anymore so she just endured the awkward stares. Kal was staring at her like 'oh my god, what have you done'. She didn't like that look from him either and made her question what he was really thinking about. Diana almost wished that she could read everyone's minds, that would make her life far easier, or maybe far worse...

"And _where_ would you possibly go, princess?" Lara said with a raised eyebrow and folded arms looking quite intimidating.

Lara's stance was making Diana feel a tad uncomfortable as the woman towered over her since she was sitting down. She suddenly had flashbacks of her being scolded by her mother as a little girl. Deciding that Kal's parents were not going to intimidate her she stood up facing the El mother and slowly walked forward moving closer. Lara's eyes scanned Diana's body up and down, inside and out. She was almost tempted to back away from the Amazon coming towards her but she stood still.

"I was saying exactly what I meant. Who says that Kal and I need to stay here or on Krypton? We can live anywhere in the world if we wanted to. We are adults are we not?" Diana folded her arms mirroring Lara.

"This has nothing to do with being adults, princess. This has to do with the El family and yours as well. I would assume that your sisters would not see you in the same light after everyone finds out about..._that_." Lara said raising her chin.

"All the better for Kal and I to leave, am I right?" Diana retorted.

Kal couldn't watch his mother and Diana having a staring contest any longer so he stepped in between them raising his hands for peace among the two women.

"Hold on a minute. This is a decision that would affect my life, Diana's life, my parent's life, and Diana's mother's life, so we would need to discuss this further if we decided to leave. Diana is right about one thing though, we _are_ adults and are allowed to make our own choices."

Jor and Lara shared an understanding glance at one another. Their son did have a point there and they turned to look back at Kal-El.

Jor began, "son you are correct that you are both adults, but you are part of one of the royal families on Krypton. How would it look to others if you just ran off with an Amazon princess to another country or planet, and have a child too?"

"And not to mention that would be hard to explain while you are absent from Krypton," Lara added. "you should have never came here. I knew that you were too smitten with the princess." She shook her head.

Kal was getting a little irritated at his parents the more they spoke and their stance wasn't helping the situation either. He looked over to Diana who was feeling a little bit out of her element at the moment. He couldn't just stand here and let his parents walk all over him or her for that matter.

"Okay hold on a second. I did come here to learn about Themyscira's culture and their way of life. I did and still do like Diana. She is very intelligent, strong and a kind person. It is true that I probably wouldn't have came here unless she were here, but that wasn't the only reason I came to the island. I left because I wanted to do what I said I'd do, and that was learn. And I have learned, I've learned a lot more than just their culture. I have learned that sometimes Krypton's ways of handling situations are not the best and not very inviting. I do love my people, but we are too strict sometimes. You, father, wanted to ban me from Krypton, all because I didn't marry one of our kind. Parents are supposed to help their children and you both aren't being very helpful right now if you ask me." Finally he was done with his little speech and his parents both stared at him in shock, but with blank expressions. He wasn't sure how they were going to react to what he said but he hoped they would at least have some sympathy.

Jor relaxed his position and as did Lara. "Kal, we just want what is best for you, you must understand this, don't you?"

"yes, father I do understand that and I thank you for looking out for me, but times have changed and perhaps Krypton should change too. How awful would it be if Kryptonians married out of their race, would it really be that awful, would it?"

Lara sighed, "if Kryptonians bred with other races it would have to a powerful race such as the Almeracis. Kryptonians have only bred with other Kryptonians for a reason -for power, intelligence, strength and special abilities."

"And doesn't Diana have all of those qualities, mother?" Kal asked and he saw the gears turning in his mother's head.

Lara was being stubborn and she folded her arms once more, "but she is still not Kryptonian."

"We've already established that and that seems to really bother you, doesn't it?" Kal smirked.

"What would our people think? What will the council say? This could go two ways, Kal. It could either go really horribly or mildly horrible. If you two came to Krypton, would they accept her as your lover, your wife? I think not." Lara frowned.

Kal could see that he probably wasn't going to get anywhere with his parents so he finally decided not to beat a dead horse anymore. "Then I think that Diana's suggestion is a great alternative if my own people cannot accept someone like her."

Kal grabbed Diana's hand which was very noticeable to his parents and they exited the room quickly. His parent's eyes followed them all the way out of the doorway.

Hippolyta stood listening to everything that Kal-El had to say and she wouldn't say this aloud or probably not even to herself but she was impressed by Kal's bravery talking to his parents. He was polite yet firm in his argument with his parents and that he took up for her daughter, she secretly admired him for that as well.

"We can perhaps continue this conversation at dinner later, or we can just leave it behind until another for now. I'll have Mala prepare a room for you both, I'm sure you don't want to leave after your long journey to come over here," she was trying to provide a small amount of hospitality after that disaster of a meeting.

Lara and Jor shared a look with one another.

"That would be nice. Thank you Hippolyta," Jor said and he along with his wife followed the Queen out of the private room to their quarters.

* * *

Kal and Diana were in her bedroom and he was pacing around the room so much that it was worrying Diana. She reached out to him and pulled him close to her as she sat on her bed.

"Kal, you need not worry so much about your parents. Besides you're making me feel uneasy," she held onto both of his hands tightly for comfort.

He sighed and knelt down in front of her, "Diana, my parents, especially my mother, is very stubborn. Actually my entire race is very stubborn it's just in our nature I suppose. I was trying to explain to them that this whole situation doesn't have to go so wrongly as they perceive it will."

She glided her hands through his dark hair and smiled, "I know and I thank you for supporting me earlier. It was a very brave thing of you to do. I know I am not up to their Kryptonian standards, but I respect their culture and understand their stubbornness as my mother shares it as well. Family and culture can often collide and create rifts."

Kal couldn't express what he was feeling right now. He wasn't sure if he should feel angry, sad or disappointed. He was glad that Diana was in his life, but them being together wasn't supposed to be anything permanent and he wasn't going to just go back to Krypton and leave her and their child on Themyscira. That wasn't how he was and his parent's ways weren't going to change his mind.

"Rifts, yes indeed. Ah, anyway, I haven't asked you how you feel about all of this. That was pretty intense in that room earlier," he put a hand on her thigh and she placed her hand on top of his.

"I don't know how I feel. I suppose I still feel a bit lost, but at least I am no longer confused. I feel a little bit as ease now that your parents know. I knew that they wouldn't be very accepting and was not expecting my mother to be so rational about this, which I'm grateful for."

"As you say, thank the gods for that," he smiled and saw her lips turn upwards in a smile of her own at that comment.

A few silent moments passed between them and Kal felt peaceful being in this room with her for once. He was able to hear everything, the water outside, the breeze gently brushing against the curtains at the large open windows, Diana's heartbeat and the smaller heartbeat within her. He wasn't sure how to feel about that, but he wasn't angry about it or happy, he was just unsure.

"Diana, I have to say something."

"And what is that?" She looked at him with her green blue eyes.

He felt a sense of embarrassment and nervousness come over him inside. He breathed in deeply, "I don't know anything about having children."

Diana smiled and turned her body to face him, holding his hands in hers. "I don't either, Kal, but we can learn together. We can do so many other things together."

"Thank Rao that I have you in my life," Kal laughed a bit.

"Yes, thank the gods you have me" she smiled staring into his blue eyes.

Kal nodded his head in admiration of them being together and agreement of everything she was saying. She was right, they would achieve great things together. They were both strong willed and intelligent, but also stubborn, which wasn't such a bad thing. His feelings had only grown stronger as he stayed on the island for all these months. Although it was a short amount of time, it felt like he had known Diana for his whole life and that was something completely new to him. This new feeling of excitement and exploring emotions was great and also nerve-racking at the same time. He often wondered if Diana felt the same way as he did.

The longer Diana stared into Kal's eyes the more she felt as ease when she was with him. Her mother raised her to have a distrust of men and while she did when she first started this program on the island awhile ago, she also felt the same about Kal. She hated that he beat her at sparring and was gloating about it. she also hated that he always seemed to tease and one up her somehow with his incredible powers. Diana really felt like she had met her match when Kal came to Themyscira and now that didn't seem to matter. Her temper was always short and when he was there, he was the one who calmed her down in his own special way. He didn't even have to say anything for her to calm down. Maybe just stare at her for a little bit or touch her gently with his warm hands. She really enjoyed spending time with him any way that she could. It was a thrill when they would sneak out at night and she showed him parts of the island that she was basically forbidden to go to. It was a sense of excitement she hadn't felt since she was a little girl and that was very satisfying. Although they hadn't really known each other for a long time, she felt as if she could trust him with many things in her life and now especially. Since they were having an unexpected challenge in both of their lives this would prove his loyalty and sincerity to her which she anxiously would await for.

As she continued to stare at Kal he was looking elsewhere as she noticed he seemed to be enjoying life around him. She felt her nerves tensing up and thought she should ask something that had been on her mind for awhile now.

"Kal, do you like me?"

Kal was in a daze and he snapped out of it when she asked this ridiculous question. "Of course I like you Diana. If I didn't then I wouldn't be here, right?" He teased.

Diana stifled a laugh, "no Kal I am being serious. Do you really like me?"

"You mean do I love you?"

The room was completely silent now and Diana nodded her head.

Kal wasn't sure the answer Diana was looking for and he didn't know if he should blurt something out like this, but he decided to just go for it.

"Yes Diana I do."

Diana felt a sense of relief. "Wow that really put me at ease, thank you."

Kal was looking at her kind of confused and then Diana smiled.

"I mean, yes I love you too," she said finally.

"I've been wanting to say that for awhile now you know?" Kal said and gently pushed her down onto the bed kissing her cheek and neck.

"Oh really?" Diana said in a sultry voice.

He nodded his head and continued to kiss her neck and he gently brushed off Diana's sleeves down off her shoulders.

"Kal..." Diana said as he was obviously not really paying attention. Once he came closer to her face she cupped his cheeks in her hands, "I think you need to get back to your studies before they start to wonder where you have gone," she smiled and he kissed her hand.

Rolling over onto his side he sighed, "alright you're right. I shall come back later for some more of you," he smiled and then rested a hand on her abdomen.

Diana glanced down at his hand on her and she turned her head towards his direction, "how does it look?"

"Like something I've never seen before."

"you've never seen a baby before?" Diana chuckled at that. It was quite amusing to her.

Kal smirked, "I have, but not like this. There's definitely a little person in there." He kissed her forehead, "okay I will be going now but I'll be back later," he got up to fly out of her window like he has done so many other times before. "Take care of yourself, Diana."

* * *

Later in the day Diana was staring out of one of the balconies watching all of the students and her sisters spar on the training grounds. She really wished that she could be out there sparring as well, but her mother definitely would not allow such a thing to happen. She looked off into the distance and saw that building in construction for future female students. She was excited that her mother had put this into play as they needed more people here to learn about their culture. Diana often wondered if her idea to leave Themyscira was a good one. She knew that her mother would be a little apprehensive if she actually left, but she did want to help others around the world.

As her mother stated before there was a lot of misery in the world, but as far as she knew, the world was supposed to be at peace. Times have changed a lot since her mother was here and she had been on this planet for a long time, much longer than her and some of the sisters on Themyscira. What was this misery she was going on about, she wondered?

Just as her thoughts began to wander she felt a hand on her shoulder. A very familiar hand.

"Diana, how are you feeling?" It was her mother's voice that she recognized.

Diana turned and saw her mother standing behind her looking very empathetic.

"I am well mother, no need to worry about me," she looked out into the distance again. Her mother came to stand next to her now.

"I have every right to worry about you, daughter. You're carrying my grandchild after all."

"You are being rather calm about all of this, mother," Diana said still staring off.

Hippolyta put a hand to her daughter's shoulder and turned her to face her way. "I cannot reverse this situation Diana. It is better to embrace the unstoppable instead of holding grudges and staying angry. Learned this a long time ago."

Diana put a hand on her mother's and smiled softly, "thank you mother. That is very kind and understanding of you."

"You are my daughter, Diana. I will always be there to help you even in tough situations."

"I would hope so," Diana said.

Hippolyta cleared her throat and sat down on a bench on the balcony, "why did you suggest that you and Kal leave to go live somewhere else? Does Themyscira not suit you anymore?"

Diana turned to look at her mother very confused and she sat next to her on the bench. "No that's not what it was mother. I just wanted another option and I think it would be a great opportunity. I would love to see the world for what it really is. I want to experience everything."

"you've always had the desire to be an adventurer ever since you were a child. I often thought how your life would be if you had a sister growing up."

"But I do have sisters. I have a lot of them," Diana said puzzled.

Hippolyta smiled, "I know, daughter, but I meant a child sister. One that was around the same age as you. It would have been nice." Her eyes changed color as she spoke Diana noticed. Her eyes seemed less enthused about the conversation and more of remorse or shame of some sort.

Diana had wanted to talk to her mother about this for a long time, but never found the right moment especially after the Els came here.

"Mother, what happened between you and Antiope?"

"I want to ask you this before I answer your much desired question. How did you find out about that in the first place?"

Diana sighed, "mother I am no fool and we do have sisters that know about Antiope. I also heard the Bana talking about it when you put me on guard duty. I also heard from a siren who knew Antiope very well."

"You went to the Siren Den?" her mother seemed surprised at this. "You were banned from there since you were a girl, why did you go there?"

"That is not important at the moment," Diana desperately didn't want to talk about what happened at the Siren Den with her mother. "I just want to hear it from you and why did you keep it a secret from almost everyone on the island, even me?"

Hippolyta knew that if she didn't answer her daughter's questions they'd never go away and probably eat at her for awhile.

"Antiope and I were supposed to rule themyscira together, as a team, but she refused and went rogue. That is why we have such a rift between the Bana and the rest of the Amazon clans. Antiope was the Bana's Queen for awhile until I put a stop to it to make the story short."

"But you didn't exile her did you?"

"No, I thought that would be too easy for her and I have a heart you know? Antiope is my sister and the other amazons that bore children have been long gone as they lost their mortality. I sent her and our fallen sisters' children to a magical part of the island that was never to be touched again. I did this on purpose for she would always live with pain and guilt for the rest of her life."

Diana didn't think that was fair but she couldn't understand her mother as she wasn't there when this all happened.

"That seems rather harsh, mother. You are worse than the Els," she teased. Diana had stumbled upon that waterfall on the island a few days ago when she asked Kal to check it out with her. Now she was sure that was where Antiope was kept.

"What happened to the children?" Diana was almost afraid to ask.

"they are still there in..under the island. They have been there for thousands of years. They must have a whole city of their own underneath the island, but the children beneath the island," she took a deep breath, "are male children. The remaining female children are some of the amazons on this island currently."

Diana couldn't believe her mother's words and she was just trying to process everything. Although she had known most of the story of Antiope she hadn't known the children were male children. This counteracted everything her mother said about men. It showed that her mother had compassion for those male babies who were now grown men at this point.

"And what if my child is a male?"

Hippolyta grabbed her daughter's hand for reassurance, "I wouldn't harm your child Diana, whether it be a girl or a boy. You have to understand that I thought what I was doing was the correct thing to do at the time. I spared all of their lives and gave them a separate paradise beneath _this_ paradise."

Diana could understand that and it gave her a sense of relief having her mother explain this to her. She also felt like her mother had more compassion than she normally let on.

"What would happen if you opened Themyscira to Antiope and my...brothers? it seems cruel to keep them locked up in asylum for all those years. They've only known men and Antiope. They've never seen any other women in their lives. Our sisters have had the privilege of interacting with other men and it has done no harm."

"In my heart I know that it is cruel, but in my gut, I know that if I did that it might not bode well with our sisters especially the Bana."

"Maybe if this were to happen then the Bana would not resent us so, mother."

Diana did have a point there but Hippolyta was very unsure of this idea only because she had scenarios running through her head of what might happen to her people and the Bana amazons.

"It might not be such a horrible idea mother. Just think about it," Diana smiled.

Hippolyta nodded and would have that idea in the back of her mind for sure. Perhaps they could all live in peace, but if they didn't it wouldn't end well with the amazons.

"Excuse me," Lara was standing at the entrance of the balcony. The two Amazon royals turned and saw the Kryptonian Queen standing there looking very serious as usual. "Sorry to interrupt but could I speak with Diana for a moment?"

Hippolyta stood and nodded her head, "of course." She left and there was the silence between the El Queen and the Amazon princess.

"Is there anything I can help you with, your highness?" Diana said not really comfortable with Lara wanting to speak with her.

Lara stood next to the bench staring at Diana, "may I sit here?"

Diana nodded and so Lara sat at the other end of the stone bench as Diana was trying to distract herself from staring at the El woman.

Lara wasn't much for small talk so she just dove right in, "Diana I just want you to know that I understand that you and Kal are not going to be separated. It is something that not even myself or my husband can prevent." She paused and exhaled slowly, "I also want to let you know that in the Kryptonian way of living it is out of our customs to be with anyone besides our own people as we had made that clear earlier in our little meeting." She added sourly.

"I don't mean to step out of my boundaries, but what is it that you wanted to really talk to me about?" Diana asked staring at Lara directly now.

"Well," Lara began, "I just wanted to say that since Kal-El is very uninterested in marrying any Kryptonian woman we pick out for him, I was going to suggest that you and Kal get married for the sake of his reputation. I would hate to have a child grow up without you both unmarried and it would look very bad on our family. We a proud people, Diana." She stood from the bench now lacing her fingers together. "Just something to think about." And with that she exited the balcony.

Diana was left with two mothers hitting her twice with such intense information she was feeling a little overwhelmed. A proud people she says. Kal's reputation she says. The Kryptonian way she says. Marriage.

Marriage she says.

**AN: sorry for the wait! But things have seem to become more complicated. Will Hippolyta go through with Diana's suggestion and will Diana go through with Lara's request? Enjoy :)**


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: I was in a good mood and decided to update quickly. I enjoyed writing this chapter and hope everyone enjoys it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

A Beginning to an End

Diana was wandering around outside in the training grounds after hours. Many of her sisters were still roaming around as the lights were on filling the dark skies with much needed electricity. Diana was very thankful for Kal and his parent's help for that invention brought to Themyscira. It was needed indeed. As she was wandering around the same spot for over half an hour she began standing in a fighting stance and throwing punches randomly trying to fulfill her overwhelmed state at the moment. Dinner would be soon and she'd have to meet with the Els again along with her mother. She wasn't sure if she should join them or have food delivered to her room. She knew that her mother would bother her endlessly until she ate something. She hadn't been eating properly and normally she ate quite well and ate a lot too. It was unusual for her to skip meals but she just didn't feel like she desired food the same ever since she found out she was pregnant.

Kal was walking back to the palace to join his parents and Diana with her mother for dinner when he saw Diana on the training grounds boxing an invisible person. He smirked and stood there watching her spar by herself. She was quite entertaining to watch for sure. He stepped a little closer hoping that she would notice him but she was definitely in her little fighting zone at the moment completely oblivious to her surroundings.

"How's that sparring going for you, Diana?" he smiled as she finally noticed that he was watching her. He saw her face flush in a bright pink.

"How long have you been standing there?" Diana asked sheepishly.

Kal walked up to her and placed his hands on her slender but broad shoulders, "not too long. I was just enjoying watching you spar. Too bad I can't be your partner," he grinned.

"Well this is quite embarrassing." She shrugged her shoulders and half smiled.

He brushed her cheek with the backside of his hand, "no it's not Diana. You should really being taking care of yourself."

"I'm not a porcelain doll, Kal," she folded her arms feeling a bit insulted at his comment but she knew that he cared.

"I wasn't implying that you were. Let us go inside to have dinner. I'm sure you haven't been eating well lately." He took her hand they walked up the stairs to the palace entrance.

"How did you know that?" she wondered.

"You're thinner than usual. I notice things," he winked and they sauntered inside together. He saw his parents conversing with Hippolyta at the table already drinking some wine. He remembered that wine very well and it was deadly even for him.

Hippolyta saw her daughter and Kal-El enter the dining room and she smiled immediately stopping conversing with the Els. She stood up to greet them properly.

"Diana, Kal, I am glad that you made it. I wasn't sure if Diana was going to make it. Come sit with us. I promise no parental lectures at the table," she sat back in her seat taking a sip of her wine.

* * *

A half hour later plates of food were delivered to the table and Diana just listened as Kal and his parents were conversing with her mother. She wasn't much for words as she was thinking of what Lara had said to her earlier. She had yet to tell Kal about it, but dinner time was not the place for that. She wanted to talk to him privately about that 'suggestion' his mother offered. In a way Diana understood where his parents were coming from and how improper it would look if they were unmarried but also it seemed kind of selfish on his parent's part. Was this how all Kryptonians operated, she wondered?

A bowl of fresh spinach and tomatoes were placed in front of Diana and also a plate of rice with fish was presented as well. She looked down at her plate and it seemed like a lot of food to her now. A few months ago she would probably eat two plates of something like this, but now it seemed almost a chore to eat small portions. She also noted that she wasn't really a fan of spinach, cooked or raw. She never really ate it and preferred other vegetables like squash to satisfy her needs.

Diana then looked at everyone else's plates and saw different meals on their plates. They didn't have a spinach salad or rice with fish like she did. Usually her mother and her ate the same thing for dinner, what was the deal here? Everyone else had potatoes with goat, a cold tomato soup and an onion tomato vinegar salad accompanied with a glass of wine and water. Meanwhile she had fig juice and water placed in front of her.

Lara who was sitting across from Diana looked at her confused expression as to why her food was obviously different from everyone else's meal.

"I suggested to your mother that you should eat fish and spinach," she said after taking a drink of her water. When she saw Diana's eyes look up at her with an even more confused expression than before she then said, "the spinach has a lot of iron and the fish has many nutritional fats. It is good for you," she smiled faintly.

Was this Lara's way of being nice, Diana thought? While she didn't eat too much fish, she didn't mind it but it was a little off putting that Lara would suggest to her mother that she'd be served an entirely different meal. She was sure that the chefs were a little irritated at this. She didn't know if she should say anything or not but she would eat it only because it was specially prepared for her and since Lara suggested it she knew she had to eat it as everyone was watching her.

"Well, I don't know what to say honestly," Diana said. "Thank you though, it looks really...nice," she smiled nervously as all eyes were on her now.

"Your mother told me that you were not feeling very well and haven't been on a regular eating schedule. I was really tired all the time when I had Kal," Lara responded to Diana.

Kal was starting to feel Diana's anxiety just by sitting next to her. He also heard her heartbeat racing faster than normal which indicated nervousness. He didn't know why his mother was suddenly being so nice. It was almost like she turned a complete 360 within a few hours.

Diana was starting to feel pressured into eating this food and with Kal's mother staring at her as well as her own mother she was feeling a little panicky. Suddenly she stood up abruptly and took in a deep breath as her skin began to flush, "excuse me I need to leave," she exited the dining room and immediately ran to her bedroom closing the door very audibly.

Everyone at the table stopped eating and stared at one another. They were all a little confused as to why Diana had left the table in such a hurry.

"Is she alright?" Jor asked openly.

Hippolyta shook her head, "I do not know. Diana is prone to fits and tantrums every now and then but I sense this was something entirely different."

"I hope it was not something I had done to upset her," Lara said innocently.

"Perhaps I shall go check on her," Hippolyta said tossing her cloth onto the table and pushing her chair back to stand.

Kal put his hand up placing his utensils down on the table, "no it's alright I will go check on her. Everyone just continue to converse," he smiled and quickly left to Diana's room.

* * *

As he arrived he thought he should knock on her door, not like he really needed to but he thought it'd be more polite to.

"Diana?" He rapped on the door a few more times and received no response just yet. "Are you okay?" He asked.

Then the door swung open and he saw Diana had teary eyes and looked a bit of a mess. "Whoa, Diana, what is the matter?" He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

She began to pace in front of her doorway entrance rapidly and shook her head. "I can't...I can't deal with your parents, your mother. She tells me about marriage with you. First she despises me and probably still does. I don't know what is going on anymore. My mother is being nice but yet secretive. And the Antiope mess with the brothers. And then you and I with this baby, I can't deal with this."

Kal hadn't been around Diana very long but this is one side he had never seen of Diana. She was also so calm on the exterior and very strong minded, but he had never seen her break down like this. He knew he should've talked to her more about this before his parents came down here. She obviously had a lot of emotions that she wasn't used to flowing through her body and mind.

"Maybe we should just start slowly and sit down?" He lead her to the bed to sit down and ground her. She sat down next to him on her bed and her breathing was really erratic. "You need to calm yourself down Diana. I've never seen you like this before. What is going in that head of yours?" He brushed his fingers through her soft thick dark hair.

As her breathing started to become more normal she sniffled and exhaled slowly. "there...there is too much going on at once. I don't know what to do, Kal."

"Whatever you think you have to face, you don't have to face it alone. I will always be here for you and for me to do that, you need to talk to me."

Diana shrugged her shoulders, "I've always been at the top. I was always the best at everything. Combat, marathons, chariot racing, bow and arrow contests, language, calligraphy, and now I feel like none of those accomplishments mean anything anymore. None of it means anything right now."

"Your accomplishments and skills are what make you, _you_ Diana. You need to understand those things will always be a part of you and nobody can take that away from you," he held her hand tightly in order for her to calm down.

Diana sat in silence for a few moments and she finally said, "your mother requested for me to commit to something earlier today."

Kal was taken aback by this. It wasn't like his mother to go and make random requests especially to a person like Diana. Given their meeting in the morning he didn't think that his mother wanted anything to do with Diana although at dinner that was kind of strange of her to suggest a different meal for her.

"And what might this commitment be?" he asked awaiting the answer he was dreading inwardly.

"She...she said that we should get married on Krypton to reserve your reputation with your family and people. I've been thinking about it all day and then what she did just now was too much for me. I don't understand what's going on. Is she trying to be nice to me so you will marry me?" She was genuinely confused by Lara's actions this entire day. One moment she hated her, the next she was proposing a marriage decree and now she was telling her what to eat like a mother would.

Kal didn't know what to think about this and it wasn't that he wouldn't mind being married to Diana, but why would his mother suggest such a thing especially to Diana? He didn't understand what her game was either. Only if he could read minds then everything would become clear to him and probably Diana as well.

"Her actions are unexplainable and unusual even for me. That is not something she would do. I too, do not understand why she has even brought that up with you."

"I'm sorry you must see me like this," she wiped her eyes with her fingertips looking away from his gaze.

He grabbed her chin gently and turned her to face in his direction. They both stared at one another in a silent understanding moment. "I will see all sides of you Diana you do not need to hide your feelings with me anymore." He would talk with his parents about his mother's behavior at a later date. His thoughts were all on Diana right now.

She smiled touching his hand, "thank you Kal."

He pat her thigh and kissed her softly on the lips, "now I know you do not want to go back out there but I'd really like it if you would eat something."

Diana sighed and found the floor a bit more amusing to stare at now.

"Please, for me? For our child?" He placed his hand on her abdomen hopeful that she would comply with him.

A few minutes later Diana was walking with Kal back to the dining room and saw everyone was at the table waiting for their return. All eyes turned onto them as they entered the room together. Kal pulled out Diana's chair and she sat down gingerly as she realized everyone was looking at her. She slowly picked up the fork and told herself inwardly that she was going to eat this food and finish it regardless of the awkwardness in the room.

* * *

The following morning the Els decided they would leave and not bother the Amazon Queen and her daughter any longer. The visit was intense enough. Kal would not see them off as he had his studies to attend to like he promised he would since he came here. That's why he was here right?

Diana was just waking up to the bright sun shining into her bedroom. Her eyes slowly opened and she rubbed them from the bright sun coming in. The sound of an aircraft also woke her up and she got out of bed sluggishly walking to her window peering out of her curtains to see that the Els were just taking off. She didn't even say goodbye to them and in her mind she thought that was probably best that didn't happen. Yesterday was enough emotional excitement for her.

A feeling of nausea was suddenly hitting her and she groaned not really in the mood at all for this right now. To the right of her there was a large plant in a vase that she not so unexpectedly vomited into. She almost felt sorry for the poor plant after that. It was better than doing that over the balcony in her room, she thought. Wiping her mouth with her hand she shook her head now making her way to her water basin to wash her face and rinse out her mouth. All she could taste was the fish from last night. She stared at herself in the mirror shaking her head.

"I should have never eaten that fish," she said to herself.

After cleaning herself up she decided to put on a knee length gown with a belt tied around her waist. She would discuss this Antiope matter with her mother finally as she couldn't take it anymore. It had been bothering her for awhile and while she did get some answers yesterday it didn't satisfy her like it should have. She needed more.

Making her way to the throne room she saw Phillipus examining some scrolls and saw her mother's throne was indeed empty.

"Phillipus where is my mother?"

Phillipus looked up to see a rather serious princess staring at her. She set down the scrolls, "she went to a secret location to gather her thoughts, princess. How are you feeling?"

Diana answered bluntly, "I feel horrible. Where is she Phillipus? I must know this as I need to speak with her immediately. That is an order."

The dark skinned woman was reluctant to tell the princess where Hippolyta was, as she was her friend. But Diana was also the Queen's daughter and she couldn't refuse an order from her either.

She sighed, "she is at the spot where the underground cove is, princess. Do not tell her I told you so."

"Thank you," Diana left the room and knew exactly where her mother was now. She was at that waterfall that she stumbled upon a few days ago.

* * *

She flew over to that exact location and saw her mother staring at the waterfall alone. She landed on the ground making her way to her mother.

"This is where they are," Hippolyta said solemnly as she knew Diana was approaching her closely.

Diana placed a hand on her mother's shoulder, "I know you have a lot of feelings coming over you as you stand here mother. I am going through a similar pattern myself."

Hippolyta turned to stare at her daughter and grab her daughter's hand to reassure herself.

"I say we should release them from their asylum. It has been long enough and even you can forgive a loved one's mistakes," Diana was trying her best to make her mother feel better. She didn't know her mother's sister and any of her brothers beneath the island but knowing that they were there must have been torturing her mother for many years. It was time to let go of hurt feelings and grudges.

She spoke once more, "you forgave me for my moronic mistakes in my short life mother. I am sure you can forgive someone after thousands of years of hidden encampment." She smiled as her mother nodded her head in response.

Hippolyta sighed deeply, "let us gather a part of sisters to help dig and open the chamber deep within."

Within just an hour of Diana and her mother's talk and rash decision most of the amazons were relieved from their daily duties and all classes were canceled for male students. Most knew about the underground section of the island and complied with the Queen's orders to dig it up and open the stone doors. It was almost like the gates of Tartarus that the Amazons once guarded on Themyscira.

So far the amazons had finished half of the work within the time span of three hours. Diana oversaw everything and gave orders to her sisters encouraging them to finish the job. They would be done in no time at this rate. Her mother was at the palace instructing the male students to continue to work on the new building for the female students. She advised all of her fellow sisters to not spread around a word about the asylum being opened after so many years. She feared it would cause an uproar. She also feared the Bana would retaliate and command that Antiope be their Queen once more. Of course Artemis was their head chief at the moment and that wouldn't change but if she found out that Hippolyta was opening the gates then something bad might happen. She knew eventually they would find out but she didn't want anyone else to know except for those who were working on the process right now. Hippolyta also asked her friend, Phillipus, to stand with Diana and oversee their sisters until the job was completed.

"How did you convince your mother to do this, princess?" Phillipus asked instructing the amazons to move all the stones into one pile.

Diana looked on ahead at everyone, "well I convinced her to basically forgive her sister and it is not right to keep them there. It has been many years since this quarrel between occurred. It was overdue for a reunion if you will," she smiled.

"I just hope once we reach the other side that she too will want the same thing as your mother, princess," Phillipus added wisely feeling a bit weary of this whole process.

Awhile later an amazon called out to the princess and royal guard standing by, "we have reached the doors, princess. Shall we open them or wait for the Queen to arrive?"

Diana stood up from a chair she was sitting in and she went to go see these doors for herself. She flew deeper into the soil filled cave. The doors were rather massive and made of stone. This could either go well or horrible wrong. She hoped for the earlier thought of course.

"I shall alert my mother."

* * *

A few minutes later Diana came back with her mother standing beside her in front of the doors waiting to be opened for the first time in thousands of years.

"shall we open them my Queen?" An Amazon asked and everyone waited for her response.

"Yes."

The doors required several Amazons to pry them open as they were quite heavy and have been locked for a long time. Once the doors were opened a city was revealed to everyone. A city where men were walking around in very similar garb as the Amazons were dressed in. They too had jobs they had to do and a market was apparent even from afar.

Diana stepped forward looking out at the city. A few men finally noticed that a bright light was coming from the doors and they saw Diana and her mother standing at the entrance. There were a lot of whispers and amazed shocked looks coming from the men.

"By the gods, _who_ is that?" one of the men asked inquiring about Diana.

"I don't know, but she is beautiful," another added.

"Yes she is like a goddess statue that has come to life," a man with blonde hair jumped into the conversing of the two other males.

Diana stepped forward coming closer to the men, these men were her brothers and they were all beautiful in their own way. Some backed away from her as she approached them.

"Greetings. We come from the world above you, brothers."

"Up there?" One asked.

"I thought that was a myth," another one said.

Diana smiled, "it is no myth, we are from Themyscira sitting right above you and I assure you that I am one hundred percent real and genuine. Where might be Antiope?"

There was a few shared nervous glares and nobody seemed to answer her so Hippolyta stepped forward.

"I am Antiope's sister. I have come to speak with her and I can say that you are all safe from any harm. Do any of you know where she would be?" She asked and hoped someone would answer her.

A man with dark brown hair pointed down the road, "she lives in that large palace down the road."

Without any words Hippolyta along with her royal guard started heading down the road. Everyone in her path cleared the way a bit fearful of her. They had heard so many things about this woman and they were kind of afraid of her. They also felt a bit angry at her despite not meeting her not once in their lives.

Diana walked alongside her mother as many of the men stared at them.

"they seem like they are afraid of us, mother," Diana whispered.

"I do not know what my sister has told them. To them I am probably no better than Hades himself."

They stopped half way and saw the palace at the end of road. Hippolyta and Diana stood there just staring at the palace up ahead wondering how well this meeting was going to go for everyone here. The stares they got from the men were not stares of compassion at all or for forgiveness either.

Hippolyta walked up the stairs and while the palace looked nothing like her own up above ground it had similar details like the paintings on the walls and vases on marble columns. They shared similar interests after all, she thought. Two male guards stood at the doors to the palace entrance. They saw her approaching and looked unimpressed and had no idea who she was.

"May I have an audience with Antiope?" Hippolyta asked politely.

One of the guards just stared at her while the other asked, "who are you?"

"I am her sister. Is she your Queen?" She didn't want to ask so bluntly but thought it'd be best just get that question out into the open.

"Yes she is, but she treats us all as equals here."

The guard caught a glimpse of Diana standing behind the woman who says she is their Queen's sister. He couldn't stop staring at Diana and was completely blinded by her as Hippolyta continued to talk to him.

"Excuse me, are you listening to me?" Hippolyta snapped the guard out of his embarrassing daze.

He cleared his throat, "ah, yes. Sorry ma'am. If you are who you say you are I will let you in."

"Sorry that I do not have any proof," she added sourly.

The second guard stepped forward, "I will go alert the Queen and come back to let you know what she says."

Hippolyta was alright with this so she stood outside waiting with her entourage patiently as she got many glares and confused glances. She felt a little uncomfortable to be standing here amongst all of these men. She knew that they were harmless to her, but that didn't make her feel any less uneasy.

* * *

The guard came into Antiope's throne room and bowed towards her. She was sitting on the floor with a large assortment of pillows and rugs reading a book. Something relaxing that she hadn't done in a long while.

"Sorry to interrupt my Queen but someone is here to see you."

She sighed, "I don't really have time to deal with any more problems between you boys," she went back to her reading.

A young woman came out from one of the hallways in a long red gown. She had black hair that was tumbling down her back.

"Who is here? I shall send them away," the young woman said quite eager to get rid of anyone who was disrupting the Queen's peace.

He bowed to her and tried to look away from her but then he noticed that she looked a lot like the beautiful woman outside of the palace doors.

"ah...um.." he stammered.

The dark haired young woman huffed and started heading towards the guard, "stop your stuttering. Who is outside, for I shall handle them myself?!"

"A...a woman here to see the Queen, princess. She says that she is the Queen's sister."

Antiope looked up from her book and stood slowly.

"What did you say?"

"A woman says she is your sister. I have refused to let her in without your permission, my Queen." He bowed again and then to the princess as well.

Antiope briskly walked over to one of the balconies to see who was standing outside her palace and indeed saw Hippolyta standing there waiting patiently. She couldn't believe it and she had a young woman with dark hair with her. She didn't know who that could be.

"Let her in."

**AN: what does everyone think about Lara's behavior? is she being nice or does and her husband having something else in mind for these two? And Antiope? will she react badly or will she be glad to see her sister after being locked up for such a long time? Until next time :)**


	21. Chapter 21

Checkmate

As Hippolyta, Diana and the royal guard waited outside of the palace patiently all eyes were still on them. It was almost like they were the traitors. Diana was getting more impatient the more she stood there waiting on her mother's supposed sister. As she had her arms folded she paced around making a circle of her own footprints.

"They are taking too long," Diana said and her mother turned to face her with a frown.

"I see patience is not your middle name, Diana."

Before Diana could respond a group of guards opened the doors and the one they met earlier came forward to greet the crowd. He bowed slightly at Hippolyta and she was a little taken back by his politeness.

"The Queen wishes to see you," he went up the stairs and Hippolyta along with her crew followed slowly. The palace looked a lot like her palace above ground. Everything was almost exactly the same, minus the portraits of Diana in the long hallways.

As everyone approached closer Hippolyta was able to see Antiope sitting on a throne waiting. She couldn't read her expression to see if she was angry, excited or just...anything for that matter. But one thing she did notice was a young woman with black locks standing next to Antiope. She resembled Diana greatly and even had the same eyes and lips as her. Hippolyta was wondering who she was and if Antiope actually mated with one of the men down here.

Finally face to face Antiope stood from her throne and said, "leave us now," the guards dispersed quickly and the doors were shut. Only silence was presented at this moment. Silence.

"Ah sister, it has been quite some time since we last saw one another," Antiope walked towards Hippolyta with a smile and she hugged her elder sister tightly.

"Indeed. I have so many questions and you probably won't have any answers," Hippolyta said with slight remorse.

Antiope looked behind her sister at her entourage that was present. She frowned, "must we have your royal guards here, sister? Can we not speak in private?"

Hippolyta looked behind her and nodded at Phillipus for them to vacate the room. All of the amazons left the room and exited the palace along with the male guards.

"And her too," Antiope added noting that Diana was still in the room.

Hippolyta turned to look back at her sister and shook her head "she stays. She is family."

Diana stepped forward standing a few feet behind her mother now. "I am her daughter. Princess Diana of Themyscira." She bowed slightly.

Antiope was shocked to hear her sister had a daughter of her own. She nodded her head accepting the greeting from the princess before her. She hadn't seen her sister for thousands of years and here she has a daughter.

"you finally laid with a man, Hippolyta?" Antiope inquired.

Hippolyta wanted to smile at that question but she kept it to herself. "Not exactly. She was gifted to me by the gods." Her eyes shifted to the young dark haired woman still standing by the throne. "Who is that if you don't mind me asking?" She pointed to the woman standing by herself.

Antiope smiled and gestured for the young lady to come forward to meet Hippolyta and...Diana.

"This is my daughter. Her name is Donna and she too was gifted to me from the gods."

Hippolyta and Diana were confused at this. The gods would not favor Antiope's betrayal to Hippolyta so why would they gift her a daughter too?

Donna held out her hand to shake with Hippolyta's and the amazon Queen stared at it for awhile before finally grabbing the woman's hand.

"I suppose you would be my aunt then, and you're my cousin?" Donna peered over to Diana who was in shock as much as her mother was.

Diana nodded her head slowly, "yes it would appear to be so."

Antiope interrupted the awkward moment, "perhaps we should go somewhere a little more private to talk amongst ourselves. We shall go to my room," she turned and started heading towards that way.

Donna smiled at Diana and followed her mother as soon as she exited. Hippolyta and Diana trailed behind carefully.

Diana whispered to her mother, "they seem to be taking this very well, mother."

Hippolyta nodded, "for now, daughter, for now."

* * *

A few minutes later a tray of tea was brought to them in Antiope's room. Donna sat next to her mother and their guests mirrored them.

"So Hippolyta I must ask this one thing," Antiope set her glass of tea on the table in front of them. "Why did you decide to just come into my world of exile? I mean, why wait until now to do so? You could have come here anytime you wanted to yet you kept me and these men locked away here."

"Well...it was really Diana who persuaded me to make, I guess you would call it, amends with you and these men down here. She convinced me that I have lived too long not facing my problems as a queen, as a sister. It was time I came here to speak with you."

Antiope nodded as she sipped from her warm glass once more. She folded her arms and cleared her throat, "so your daughter convinced you to do this? I could not even convince you to come swimming with me when we were young women. Now we are considered ancient and here you are, trying to make 'amends' as you call it. Why is that?"

Hippolyta could understand her sister's resentment to her just popping up in here out of nowhere. She sighed heavily, "Themyscira has changed a lot over the past few years. Diana and I have created a program for men to come to the island to learn of our amazonian ways and culture. It has served our sisters and the men very well..."

Antiope stopped her right there with a hand, "and I suppose that Diana convinced you to do this as well?"

Diana intervened this time. She wasn't going to just sit here and let her mother get reamed by herself since it was mostly her idea to come down here in the first place.

"it was both of our ideas and it has helped fill the gap of the Amazon's hatred and dislike towards men. It also provides education to these men who do not know what kind of people we are and how we operate. Soon we will open a program for women to attend as well."

"Fascinating," Antiope smiled and then her eyes gazed her elder sister who was looking nervous, shameful, and very anxious. "But I asked my sister, not you, princess."

There was a tense silence in the room. All women were staring at each other intensely. Hippolyta slapped her hands on her thighs gently and inwardly sighed. She knew that this meeting started out at nicely but it probably wouldn't end very nicely.

"Antiope, I am sorry for keeping you here for all these years, but what I did was to protect my people and my island. It was also to protect you. I loved you and I still do, you are after all, my sister. I could have exiled you but I kept you here so you would not betray anyone else and cause more grief than necessary."

Antiope stood feeling her blood boil beneath her skin, "Keeping me here all these years surrounded with the one thing I hate the most, men! How could you do that to me? It would have been best to kill me so I wouldn't have to live here under your will!"

"I did you a favor, Antiope. I spared you from the wrath of the gods. I did so much for you!" Hippolyta stood facing her blonde sister.

"So you want me to thank you? That is not going to happen! You left me here without any contact other than the men here. I have raised these men since they were little boys. I trained them as you would train your amazon sisters. I created a utopia for these men and you just come in here wanting to 'talk'. You have the audacity to come here unannounced and expect me to just forget about everything you've done?"

Hippolyta folded her arms, "you have misunderstood my meaning for coming to speak with you. I did not come here to make you remember everything that has happened to you, but Antiope, you deserved it! You deserved your exile fair and square. I could not stop your hatred and it saddened me. I love you like all of my sisters. I have even kept the Bana on Themyscira despite them hating me for what I did to you."

There was a long pause and Diana looked up to her mother who she knew that was feeling a little uncomfortable and very vulnerable. She had never seen her mother act like this before and it almost was a bit sad to see her in a state such as this.

"All hurt feelings aside," Diana began and Antiope turned her gaze to her sister's daughter. "My mother wanted to come here to perhaps make peace with you and all my brothers. She has kept this a secret from many of our sisters including myself. It has torn her apart from the beginning of this chaos. Would it not be better to rejoice as brothers and sisters instead of reliving hurtful pasts and emotions?"

Antiope looked at her sister again who was not looking very powerful at this moment.

"We were here all along, Hippolyta, yet you let us fall in your dark path. We could have ruled Themyscira together and made great Queens."

Hippolyta furrowed her eyebrows, "I am a great Queen. It was you who could not be stopped. Hatred is not the way and I am sorry if you still feel that way, if you do."

Antiope sat down finally and stopped staring down her sister. "I have learned many things living down here with these men," she began. "I am not related to a single one, but I feel like they are all my sons. I have raised them once their mothers left as soon as they were of age. I helped build this place into what it is today. I may have had a past of hating men thousands of years ago, and I still do not trust them totally, but I know that these men are good. They are good men and I treat them equally as if they were my own sisters."

She sighed and continued, "I thought that you had forgotten about me all those years ago. I often thought about you and now that you are here, I can only thing of our past together. My heart was bitter and I soon forgot what you were starting to look like. Your face became a distant memory for me and so I found solace in reading, training and now I have Donna here as my daughter, a princess." She smiled softly. "But she does not replace you and you are here in front of me right now. I don't know if I can forgive you as a person, but I will forgive you as a sister."

Hippolyta smiled at her sister's finally warm heartedness she had always known was deep inside of her all along. "I have forgiven your treason and betrayal as not only an amazon but as a sister too. I forgave you eons ago and hope that you can one day forgive me for keeping you away from life, sunlight, your sisters and myself. It is a new Themyscira now and I want to welcome you and the your male amazons to more fertile ground."

Diana stepped into the conversation, "come to the palace for a celebration this evening. Everyone is invited and I will arrange everything."

* * *

Lara and Jor returned to Krypton quickly. They stepped into their home a little drained from being on Themyscira and having those intense conversations with their son and Diana as well as Hippolyta. They went to their sitting area and sat on their sofa just staring out at the large red sun before them.

"Do you think that Diana will comply with your offer?" Jor-El poured glasses of water for himself and his wife.

Lara sighed, "I do not know, but she must. It will save Kal's reputation with Krypton."

"What are we going to tell Faora?" Jor asked a bit concerned about that since they landed on Themyscira.

"We must not tell her that Diana is pregnant. We will simply tell her that Kal-El is not interested."

"If we give her that reason then there will be questions coming from the Zod and Lot families. They will want their turn in line even though Kal has refused all of their daughters."

Lara sipped her water and raised an eyebrow, "you are right, Jor. We have already threatened him with exile from his own planet. It did not seem to faze him in the least bit."

"Perhaps we should think of plan B Lara," Jor sat next to her wrapping his arm around his wife's shoulders.

Lara looked at her husband a little confused. They hadn't talked about another plan together at all other than the marriage proposal between Kal and Diana.

"And what might that be?" she was curious enough.

He looked out at the red sun and nodded his head, "their child will be half Kryptonian, which means that child will be an heir to Kal's throne. They will have no choice but to live here together as a married couple."

Lara laughed, "are you serious? The council will never approve of such a thing."

"Perhaps we shall consult them about it then," Jor said sipping his water. "Their child will be a very powerful being, Lara. Think of all the things this child could do for Krypton. He...or she, will make a great ruler of Krypton."

Lara stood up shaking her head, "you suggest that we use Kal's child, our grandchild, for political gain?"

"Maybe." He nodded.

"That is...a fine idea, but we must not speak of this to Kal or Diana."

"Of course not."

* * *

Diana went back to the palace by herself as her mother was showing the island to Antiope and Donna. She was giving commands to her sisters to prepare to tonight. She hoped this would go well and that this meeting will not get out to the Bana amazons either. The male amazons were still not willing to leave their only home that have known all their lives until tonight. Diana insisted that her sisters show them around, but they have not, not because they didn't want to, but the men just stayed put refusing to budge. No matter, she thought, they will still attend, she hoped. Since everyone on the island was invited to the celebration tonight, the guests would be kept in and outside of the palace, covering the royal gardens. Diana made sure the garden was cleaned and cleared out of any unnecessary plants.

Kal walked into a flurry of amazons inside of the palace and he saw Diana bossing them around. Something she was definitely good at doing. He passed a few amazons and smiled at them lightly as he approached Diana.

"What is going on here, princess?" he smiled gazing around at the chaos inside of the palace's main room.

Diana turned and smiled, "we are having a celebration for my mother's and her sister's reunion. My brothers are also invited."

"Wow, brothers. That is something I could not get used to hearing," he wrapped his arm about her waist.

Diana brushed his arm off her body, "not here Kal. Nobody knows yet and I'd like to keep it that way."

He could understand that so he kept his hands to himself as much as didn't want to. It was really hard to resist Diana at all moments.

"How are you feeling today, Diana?" he thought he should ask.

Diana ignored him and continued talking with her sisters in her native language.

"Diana?"

"What is it, Kal?" she turned to face him finally.

He sighed, "I asked how you were feeling."

"Oh," she blinked, "I'm fine, Kal. No need to worry about me," she smiled.

He didn't really like that answer so he proceeded. He followed her as she walked over to the tables to make sure the linen was aligned correctly. He put a hand on her shoulder softly.

"did you eat today? I mean did you eat properly?"

Diana was starting to get aggravated with Kal's questions. "I will eat later tonight, Kal."

"Later? So you didn't eat anything today?" He followed her again to the tables where flowers were placed and she was rearranging the flowers in the vases.

"I don't see why this is such a problem. Why do you keep following me? It is rather annoying." She left the table and went outside to oversee the gardens. He followed her once again.

"Well I think it _is_ a problem. You're not taking care of yourself, Diana and I just want to make sure you're feeling okay. Is that so horrible?" He folded his arms.

Diana turned and had a displeasing look on her face. "You're not my keeper, Kal. Now leave me alone, please. I am very busy or can you not see that?" She looked out to the gardens again and asked one of her sisters to trim the flower beds on the east side.

Kal was a little shocked by Diana's sudden irritation and brashness with him. He pulled her aside in the shoulder gently and she slapped his hand off her shoulder.

"Kal! I said to leave me alone. I have had enough of Kryptonians as of right now. I don't need you following me asking me how I am doing!" She left and went back inside of the palace to look at everything else that was supposed to be decorated.

He trailed behind her and put his hands on his hips feeling more than irritated at Diana right now. "I didn't know that you would act like this. I just care about you."

Diana turned with an irate face, "do you not know what 'leave me alone' means? Do I need to spell it out for you? You want to know how I feel right now? I am very annoyed right now and a little on edge. Yesterday was difficult enough dealing with your parents and now you're following me like a parrot."

"Diana, I just..." he began as he was calming himself down. He had seen Diana act like this before, but not towards him since they first met.

"It's the same every day. I feel horrible, just like everyday I've felt for the last two weeks. There you have your answer now please, I have work to do. Can you leave?" She had her arms folded looking very angry at the moment.

Kal sighed and he left without any words so Diana could finish her 'work' as she called it.

Now with Kal gone Diana was able to focus a little better now. Donna was watching from the palace entrance at what happened between Diana and that tall man she saw him pass through the palace doors earlier. She had told her mother that she was going to the palace to explore her new surroundings now. Deciding to approach Diana slowly she watched as all the amazons worked together to prepare for tonight. She was quite unsure of Diana and these amazons as she had only known men her entire life. She was told many things about Hippolyta, and she didn't trust that woman. And now there was her daughter, who she didn't know what to think about just yet.

"Who was that?" Donna asked.

Diana spun around and saw Donna, almost a mirror image of herself except a few years younger than her standing right in front of her.

"What?" Diana asked confused.

"That man you just spoke so rudely to. He seemed nice, why did you dismiss him so quickly?" Donna was curious. The men she grew up with were nice and kind. She understood that men were not seen the same way on the island.

"He does not concern you." Diana said ignoring the fact that she was talking about Kal.

Donna smiled, "is he your lover?"

"Why do you say that?"

Donna shrugged her shoulders, "we grew up in two different worlds. I am just saying that he seemed nice and you shooed him away like a fly. Only lovers act like that, he is special isn't he?" she inquired.

Diana didn't have time to deal with this especially now. "Oh aren't you very talkative all of a sudden?"

Donna nodded and came around to help Diana put up a few ribbons on the large columns. "Let me assist you," she lend her hand out and Diana was reluctant to take the offer but she handed Donna the ribbon to wrap around the pole.

After they worked together to tie the ribbon around the large column Diana had this on her mind ever since they met altogether.

"Your mother said you were a gift from the gods. Is that true?" Diana asked.

"From the Egyptian gods. My mother said she had given up on the Olympians a long time ago," she nodded.

"Well...that is interesting and makes more sense now that I hear it," Diana smiled at the woman before her.

A few silent moments passed between the two and Donna noticed that Diana was a bit like her in a way, but being in two different worlds definitely shaped how they thought and acted around the different sexes.

"It has been nice talking with you, Diana. I am off to explore a little more of your island," she started to leave and then turned around, "you look a little pale. You should eat a fruit or something."

Diana watched the young princess leave and could only think that this probably wouldn't be so horrible having the rest of her extended family living here above ground that is.

**AN: what is Lara and Jor's real plan? And what about the Bana amazons that will soon realize that Antiope has resurfaced? Diana and Donna's subtle reactions are up for questioning as well...enjoy :)**


	22. Chapter 22

War and Peace

Hours into the party Donna was walking around observing her surroundings. All of the amazons seemed nice enough and her brothers were nervous and apprehensive at first about coming here to the palace tonight, but they were finally talking to the female amazons. She had spotted the tall, regal, and the least earth-like man Diana was arguing with earlier in the day, a few times tonight. She knew that he had no idea who she was as nobody was actually formally introduced. Donna preferred to stay away from the spotlight of such occasions. They never had parties like this in her home as there was really no need. She did enjoy talking to other men from around the world that were studying on Themyscira as well. They were very intelligent, kind men she gathered from the short talks they had.

She came to the table to get some more wine and she rounded the corner to step away from the large crowd of people to get some peace and quiet for just a few moments. As she looked down the hall it was empty and there was someone laying on a small sofa against a wall a few feet away from where she was standing. Donna walked over slowly and saw Diana was asleep with her arm hanging off the sofa and her legs curled up close to her body and her hair sprawled across a pillow. She sat down on the sofa and placed her hand on Diana's thigh. Just then Diana stirred awake and looked around to see Donna staring directly at her.

Diana sat up straightening out her gown and running her fingers through her messy hair. "How long have I been here?" She wished she could look at the time right about now.

Donna smiled, "I don't know, but by the look of your eyes and sleeping position I'd say a good few hours."

Diana held her head and sighed, "oh no, a few hours? Gods, I didn't realize that I was so exhausted. I hope nobody has been looking for me." She bit her bottom lip as her mind wandered.

Donna laughed, "I don't think anyone has been looking for you, except maybe that man of yours," she handed her the glass of wine she retrieved from the table earlier. "Here, for you."

Diana shook her head refusing the wine with her hand held up, "no thank you."

"It is a celebration, Diana. You and I are cousins, right? And I just met you, what, like a few hours ago? The least you can do is drink from the same glass as me?" She smiled softly.

"I have been staying away from alcohol, but thank you, really," Diana smiled. She then stood up to get herself more situated to go find Kal. She needed to speak with him and she probably should have done so hours ago.

Donna got up as well and stopped Diana from heading out of the hallway, "Diana, I know we just met, but if you need somebody to talk to besides your mother of course, I am a good person to talk to, okay?" she grinned and pat Diana's shoulder before leaving to return to the crowd once more.

Diana stood there thinking of what Donna said and in some ways she reminded her of herself when she was a young teenager. Except she was more outgoing and could be outrageous at times. Rounding the corner to enter the room again she scoped out Kal in the large flurry of amazons in the room. He was talking with some of the male amazons at the moment. Making her way through the women and men in the room she finally was able to see him only ten feet away from her.

Kal looked up and saw Diana staring straight at him with a gentle smile on her face.

"Excuse me," Kal said leaving the group of men to talk amongst themselves. "Hello, I uh...haven't seen you all night."

Diana shrugged her shoulders, "I...fell asleep. Anyway, can we talk alone please?"

He nodded his head and followed her to a more private area of the palace. Together they walked through one of the many long large hallways in silence for awhile.

"I'm sorry Kal, for...snapping at you like I did today," Diana began quietly.

Kal was shocked that she actually apologized to him, not like she didn't before, but he could tell that she genuinely felt bad about earlier.

"It's fine Diana, I know you've been a bit overwhelmed with everything that has happened recently," he smiled warmly and grabbed a hold of her hand as they continued to walk.

"It's not alright for me to snap at you or anyone just because I am overwhelmed."

Kal stopped walking and put Diana at a halt. He put a hand to her cheek, "Diana, don't worry about it. I was just worried for you that's all. I will handle my approach a little better next time, so I'm sorry about that. Are we even now?" He smirked.

"You always have room for jokes, don't you?" Diana stifled a laugh. Her eyes suddenly changed from sweet to mischievous, "so, how about we just forget the party and go to my room?"

Kal wasn't going to turn down an opportunity to spend time with Diana so he smiled, "really?"

She nodded, "I'll do anything you want."

His eyes lit up at those words, "anything?"

"_Anything_." She pulled him closer to her. He then picked her up with ease and trailed to her bedroom down the hall.

* * *

The following morning Diana was just waking up to the bright sunlight beaming into her room. She turned over and saw Kal completely naked standing at her balcony enjoying the sun's rays. She covered her body with the light sheet and leaned her head against her hand just watching him.

"Here I am dreading the sun's light and you are standing in the midst of it," Diana said and she saw Kal turn around with a wide grin.

"It is the best way to wake up from a good evening," he sat back down in bed with her kissing her forehead. "Did you sleep well?"

Diana nodded, "I think so, but now I am a bit hungry."

"That's good, right?" He rubbed her arm and in response he got a grin from her.

Later in the day Diana was looking for her mother and Antiope. She had wondered where they could have gone, the island wasn't that large. She saw Phillipus outside helping with the training sessions. She had taken over her position recently.

"Phillipus, where has my mother gone?" Diana approached the woman and interrupted her overseeing of the session.

"She has gone to see the council in the Americas to alert them that Antiope and Donna along with all the male amazons will be staying on Themyscira."

"Oh," Diana wasn't alerted of this. Perhaps they were discussing this at the festivities last night when she passed out or went with Kal later in the evening.

Phillipus added before she saw Diana about to leave, "stick around, princess. Your mother has a proposition for you. She should be back in a few hours you know how those meetings go," she smiled continuing the session.

* * *

Meanwhile as Diana waited for her mother to return she found that reading was a good way to pass time. She sat on one of the balconies in the throne room to sit out in the sun reading quietly to herself. She had been reading for the last four hours and was almost finished with this book. Sighing she looked out into the sky and closed the book, just enjoying the view ahead of her. Kal had left to attend to some of his classes and while she had basically nothing to do, it was boring yet satisfying at the same time.

Hippolyta returned to the palace and saw her daughter sitting on the balcony by herself. She had told Antiope and Donna to go with a group of guards to examine some of the classes that the students take part in during the day. Being at meetings all day really tired her out and she would love to sit and relax like Diana was doing just now, but she had to ask Diana to do something. It would be a good opportunity to catch her before she leaves.

So she approached quietly and sat down next to her daughter. Diana turned slightly to see her mother finally was back from America.

"Mother, how was the meeting with the council?" Diana set her book down in her lap anxious to hear what they said about Antiope and Donna.

"Ah, same as usual, they talked a lot and my sister and Donna will have a response within a week," she sighed, "are you enjoying your free time?" She smiled.

Diana was indifferent about it, "it is nice, but can be boring sometimes."

Hippolyta knew that if she didn't say this now, she probably wouldn't get another perfect chance to. "so, I don't want to alarm you with anymore news as I know you've had quite a rough week." She saw her daughter's eyebrow raise at those words. "The council informed me that Greece is at war with their neighbors, Lebanon and Turkey. Their ambassador died a few days ago and they need a new ambassador to lead their country out of the war."

Diana awaited for her mother to continue and wasn't exactly sure where she was going with this conversation now.

"Not knowing your condition they appointed you to the position as you know the culture and language of that area of the world. I thought I'd at least ask you if you wanted to take on this position," Hippolyta waited for Diana's response and she could see the gears turning her head slowly.

"An ambassador of Greece?" Diana said not believing what she was hearing. "Don't they need to elect someone for that job? I cannot just walk into the country expecting them to trust me or follow my directions, I mean...assuming that I take the offer."

Hippolyta nodded, "the council has already spoken to the Greek government and they had a select few that would qualify. They chose you to go there and help out their people."

Diana thought that this would be the perfect break to get away from Themyscira and go out in the world of 'peace' as she thought that it was. Apparently the media and governments were good at hiding such things as civil wars and famine. Knowing that she was pregnant now and had to worry about Kal's parents now only made this decision harder. If she didn't have any of these assets she would take the job without question, but now it was different. Still, it was rather tempting and she really wanted to take the offer that the council proposed.

"while I _know_ that you will probably take the position easily, I advise you to think about it a little bit..with everything going on right now, Diana," Hippolyta hoped those words would sink into her daughter's head, but they probably won't.

Diana nodded, "right, I understand. They really want me to be their ambassador? I don't know what to say, honestly. It would be a great chance for me to leave this island and explore the world like I had mentioned and hoped for." She paused more a moment and then thought about Kal. Would he be able to come with her?

"Will Kal be able to come with me?" she asked her mother.

"I am sure they will allow a guest to come with you, but I'd really like it if you would think about this a little more." Her mother encouraged her as much as possible.

Diana understood where her mother was coming from but growing up she had only been to America and lived on Themyscira her entire life. She wanted to explore new places ever since the island was opened up to the public once more. She couldn't possibly say no to this opportunity.

"Tell the council that I want to take the offer and when I should be ready to leave," Diana smiled and stood up to go find Kal and talk to him about this.

Hippolyta reached out with her hand and grabbed Diana's arm gently, "Diana," she spoke softly. Diana turned and stopped in her tracks. "they will need you to leave by next week if you accept."

Diana thought that was kind of quick, but she was used to things being thrown at her. "It is not like I am doing anything useful staying here anyway. At least I will be helping out a country that severely needs it." She left the balcony to go find Kal and Hippolyta sighed as she watched her briskly exit the throne room.

* * *

"Ambassador?" Kal said aloud as they were alone in the royal gardens in the late afternoon now.

Diana nodded, "yes, it would be great for us to leave Themyscira for awhile and actually contribute to something worthwhile, Kal. What do you say? Do you want to come with me to Greece?"

Kal could barely wrap his head around this. Just yesterday Diana and Hippolyta met their relatives and now Diana is appointed to be an ambassador for a country she has never even been to. Not to mention there are two other countries involved. This didn't sound too safe at all, but he could tell that she was rather anxious about the idea.

"Well...I'm not saying no and I'm not saying yes, but I don't know if it will be very safe for you," he rubbed his chin thinking deeply.

Diana nodded her head, "yes I know Kal. I was going to request a few amazons come with me and perhaps some of my brothers as an entourage. I want to help."

"I understand that you want to help Diana. Only if I am allowed to come with you and you bring your amazons with you then I will permit this, otherwise I'd have to say no," he didn't want to say this to her because he knew she was excited, but he was trying to be practical about this.

She held out her hand, "deal. Partners?"

He looked at her hand and shook it smiling weakly, "partners."

It was clear that Diana was going to go through with this plan of hers offered by the council. Although she did take Kal's suggestions into consideration and was able to meet with the council by herself within the next three days. She told them that she accepted the position as Greece's new ambassador but with a few conditions such as a Kryptonian could accompany her and a royal guard of female amazons. She also did not reveal her condition to the council as they would most likely reject her for the position that she now desperately wanted very much so.

Diana stayed at the council's meeting for entire eighteen hours before they decided. They had agreed on Diana's conditions and now she had a beaming smile on her face as she left America to return back to Themyscira to leave within the next few days. Everything in her life was moving very quickly for her and she could hardly keep up with it all. Even though a lot has happened within the last two weeks she enjoyed the challenges that had been thrown at her. It was almost like the gods were testing her patience and ability to deal with tough situations. So far she has prevailed through every situation given to her. Now she was dealing with Kal's parents, new relatives, a possible marriage with Kal, an ambassador position and a baby. So far she thinks that she can handle all of this at once, but only time will tell if she can or not.

Upon returning to Themyscira Diana exited her jet and walked into a room with her mother, Antiope, Donna and Kal standing there looking at her. They looked like they were waiting for her to come back all day.

"They agreed with my terms. We shall leave in the next few days," Diana openly announced.

Deep down Hippolyta had hoped that the council would disapprove of her conditions she was setting out but it appeared that Greece was desperate, as they should be. Their president was very unstable and needed someone to guide the country into the right path. She only wished that Diana was not pregnant then maybe this decision would make her sleep easier at night. She knew that whatever she said was not going to stop Diana. It didn't work in the past and it wouldn't work now, she knew this, but yet she wished her words somehow impacted Diana just a little bit.

* * *

Kal knocked on Diana's door later that evening and he came inside once he hadn't heard an answer. He saw that she was packing for their departure very soon. He didn't want to spoil her good mood, but he needed to tell her something right away before it was too late.

"Getting ready, eh?" Kal said sitting on her bed as she was gathering some of her clothes together.

"Yes. I will be packing my armor as well. I might need it, just in case," Diana smiled easing Kal's nervous reaction once she said armor.

"As my knowledge of ambassadors, most of the time they sit in a secure office going over a lot of paperwork regarding politics and wars," Kal stated making sure that is exactly what she was doing.

She nodded, "yes you are correct, Kal." She continued to pack her clothing carefully.

That eased him a bit hearing her response but now he needed to say this one thing. "Diana, you know I will need to tell my parents about me leaving with you, right?"

Diana stopped packing and turned to face him, "you haven't already told them?"

"I was waiting to see if the council agreed with your terms. I will have to tell them tomorrow morning immediately. I am not sure what they will say."

She sat on the bed next to him and put a hand on her thigh, "you have to come with me, Kal, regardless of what they say. I need you to come with me."

"and I want to come with you, believe me I do."

Diana sighed, "then promise me that you will come with me even if your parents disagree."

Kal and Diana shared a long gaze for awhile before he answered with a slow nod, "I promise. I don't want you to be in harm's way."

She smiled, "I am a warrior princess of Themyscira, daughter of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Do not worry about me," she said teasingly.

"a princess carrying our child," he reassured this to Diana.

She stood holding his hands in hers as she came closer wrapping her arms around his neck, "_we_ will be fine."

Kal looked up at her green blue eyes and her black tendrils covering the sides of her face, framing her warm smile. He gently pulled her closer to him and kissed her abdomen.

"I will make sure of that."

**AN: so many things happening at once! Enjoy :)**


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: sorry for the super delayed update. Warning: this is a crazy one :)**

The Trojan Horse

Kal came with Diana as he said he would after he told his parents where he was going and why he needed to go. The time given wasn't much as they needed to leave immediately by order of the council and of the crisis in Greece's war with its neighbors. Kal was not going to take no for an answer when he spoke with his parents. At first they seemed displeased, very displeased, but after about two hours of convincing, they finally relented and for that he was grateful. He had explained that he needed to be with Diana as it was one of her requests upon taking the job offer as Greece's new ambassador. His father was the most reluctant of the two and didn't think it was a good idea for either one of them to go but it would be better if Kal came with Diana for several reasons. Lara was not enthused about him going to a different country so far from Themyscira and especially since it was a war zone, but she did admit to her son that it would be a good opportunity for him to see the outcome of war. She had trained him his whole life about the strategies of war and she knew that Diana was trained in the same way, but Kal's was more tactical than Diana's way, she imagined.

So far the last two weeks in Greece had been nonstop action since they arrived. Immediately Diana was taken to meet Greece's prime minister and discuss what is happening in their sister countries, Turkey and Lebanon. Several of those meetings lasted about four days each with intensity and tough decisions. So far Diana was able to convince the military general to back down from attacking Turkey as it would not be a wise decision to make. That was possibly why the previous late ambassador was assassinated as Diana came to find out two days after she arrived. The council made it seem like the ambassador died out of old age or some terminal illness, they never mentioned an assassination which made this job even more dangerous than she initially thought.

After a week in Athens Diana, Kal and her entourage were moved to Crete to stay closer to the military base. The more time she spent in her new office in an average sized building that reminded her of home, the more she thought what else the council was hiding from her and Themyscira's people, including her mother. Her mother probably knew a lot more than her at the moment, but now she was actually in the midst of it and she didn't know how she felt about it. Once she came to Athens, Greece she noticed that some people were poor while others lived in rich homes and drove amazing vehicles. There was no in between and she thought that wasn't the way a country was supposed to run.

A few days into her job at her previous office in Athens she decided to change her clothing to a more sophisticated attire. Her usual long and short chiffon gowns were not really seen as beautiful or normal over here as she soon found out when she overheard two of the female chefs whispering about her clothing and how odd it was. That day when she overheard those two gossiping about her clothes she instantly told her assistant to fetch her new dresses immediately.

Today, exactly fourteen days of being an ambassador she sat at her desk overlooking some of the negotiations between Turkey's military general and Greece's. Sighing heavily she was trying to concentrate but it was a bit difficult, this job proved to be more challenging than she imagined it would be.

Just at the right moment Kal walked into the room and closed the large double doors behind him. He smiled directly at her as she sat at her desk. This was the perfect opportunity to get 'suddenly distracted' from her work. She hadn't really seen much of Kal or had any time together since they got here, but as things calmed down in the last few days they finally were able to have long lunches together before she returned to her work and scheduled meetings.

He came behind her kissing her cheek and she smiled warmly. "It is nice to see you, Kal. What have you been up to lately? I don't imagine there is much for you to accomplish here."

Kal leaned against her desk and folded his arms smiling, "that is where you are wrong, madam ambassador."

"Is that so?" Diana smirked with a raised eyebrow swiveling in her chair facing towards him now.

"I have been working with our military general on certain tactics against Turkey and making friends with Lebanon. I think we are a really great team even though he thinks I am...weird," he quirked his smile to the side a bit.

Diana nodded, "interesting. That was not briefed with me, how did you get that passed me?" she felt a little bit overlooked suddenly and she set her fingertips underneath her chin as her elbows rested on the chair's armrests.

Kal could see the look in Diana's eyes and he couldn't exactly read them. He couldn't tell if she was irritated or highly confused, maybe a bit of both. He better fix this situation before she gets really angry.

"Well that's what I came in here to talk to you about. I didn't think you would have an issue with it...do you?" he almost hated to add that last bit.

She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, "I don't have an issue with it, but if I am to be taken seriously, these things need to be discussed with me _before_ you just go and have military tactic conversations with my general."

Kal understood why she would get upset at something like that and he definitely wasn't going to mention he had been discussing with the general for the past four days now so he kept that to himself. It was probably best he didn't elaborate on the subject any longer.

"Of course, I'm sorry. Next time I will address it with you before I jump into anything like that," he smiled taking her hand and kissing it softly.

"Thank you," she accepted his apology and then stood up walking over to the large window behind her desk. It overlooked the Mediterranean sea and it reminded her of home. She missed her sisters and her mother especially. She hadn't spoken with her since she had left and she desperately wanted to get into contact with her, but wasn't sure she was ready for a slew of questions by her mother.

Kal admired Diana even more so now that she was considered one of Greece's important leaders and the way she dressed was quite different from her attire on Themyscira. Normally she would wear more flowing gowns and sandals with her hair tumbling down her back, but today she looked especially beautiful. Her dark blue knee length dress hugged all of her curves and showed every detail of her still slender frame. Her hair once let free on a daily basis was now piled up on the top of her head in a large bun with a few tendrils framing her subtle bone structure and long neck.

Just then as he was admiring her backside she turned around to find his eyes lost at the sight of her. She smiled cheekily leaning against the wall.

"What is that look for?" she asked.

His eyes traveled from her black heels up to her hips and finally to her face. "Oh nothing just enjoying looking at you," he came closer to her and brought her body close to his, her breasts touching his. "You look so different since the first time I met you."

"Is that a bad thing?" Diana wondered what was going through his mind at the moment.

He shook his head, "no you look beautiful, it doesn't matter what you wear or look like to me. You'll always be the Diana I came to know and love."

Diana stifled a laugh, "wow such compliments from you today, Kal. I don't know what to say," she wrapped her arms around his neck gently. She saw he was leaning down to kiss her and she stopped him with her fingertips, "not here Kal, but later, if you can wait that long?" she teased.

He smiled, "I will always wait for you." He gently pushed away from her placing his hands on her hips and looked down, "and I see you are finally starting to look pregnant."

She sighed placing a hand over a more prominent bump than it was nearly a week ago, "yes it is all so strange to see one's body change so drastically in such a short amount of time."

"I know you hate this question, but I haven't asked you since we came here," he paused and saw her expression change from sweet to puzzled. "How are you feeling?" he smiled.

Diana sighed smiling as well, "I am feeling a lot better now. Not nearly as ill as I was a few weeks ago thank the gods!"

"Yes I've noticed you have more of an appetite now since our passed few lunches we have had together. That is a good thing as before you wouldn't even come near food," he laughed.

She nodded, "yes and you are fifty percent to blame for that," she teased kissing him softly and backing away from his hold going back to her desk to get back to her job, her much needed job.

Kal saw that she needed to get back to work and he respected that so he started to make his exit from her office. "As long as I'm not blamed one hundred percent, I'm okay with fifty," he smiled. "Oh and are we still on for..."

"Tonight? Yes, Kal. Now I have to get back to work," she shooed him out with her hand playfully and he nodded closing the doors behind him as he left. When he left she sighed looking at the stack of papers she had to approve and look over before the day was over. She wasn't much of a procrastinator but today was not a day where she wanted to work. She wanted to sit and relax near the beach like she had the freedom to do so on Themyscira, but this was definitely not Themyscira at all. This was one of those times where she wished she had time to relax. Since she arrived here she did not have a chance to have some alone time with Kal let alone herself. She enjoyed alone time by herself and this job was intense and required a lot of attention. It was almost like her current job was a baby of its own.

She had already wasted about fifteen minutes with Kal interrupting her, but she welcomed a distraction. The day was half over and she had only looked through half of the papers. Most of it was politics between the three warring countries and she could see why her mother was always tired and not in the best of moods after looking at scrolls all day and visiting the council daily. Diana was beginning to seriously underestimate her mother's job as a diplomat and queen the more time she spent in this office as a new ambassador. Deciding that she wasn't going to accomplish anything right now she needed a break. Getting up from her desk she exited her office and walked down the stairs gracefully passing her royal guards standing at the end of the staircase. She said hello to both of the amazons and a few of the workers in the embassy. The embassy was usually quiet and a lot of people came and went throughout the day she didn't think it was strange that certain unknown peoples came into the embassy. After all she wasn't the only person who worked here. As she passed a tall, tanned handsome man in a black suit he smiled at her bowing his head slightly. Diana looked at him for awhile and then smiled, waving as she walked passed him heading for the exit of the building.

Just as she was about to have the doors opened for her by two more amazon guards that she was smiling at through the glass a large explosion was released inside of the embassy. Diana fell to the floor and the building was up in flames. A few short moments passed and Diana pushed herself off the marble floor and saw that parts of the ceiling had collapsed on a few people behind her. Her body covered in soot she coughed from the smoke she was inhaling. As she glanced around it was almost like everything happened in slow motion and many of the workers were on the floor either dead or unconscious. Finally she stood up and was able to walk out of the embassy now her hair fallen out of her bun and in a wild mess she saw many people rushing to go inside of the embassy to save whoever was left. Everyone passed her in a hurry and finally one of the guards, not an amazon, came up to her grabbing her arms tightly.

"Ambassador! Are you alright? I saw the explosion when I was heading back from the bakery down the street," the young man was obviously frantic and more panicked than Diana was at the moment.

Diana looked back at the embassy now in flames and turned back to the young man, "I am fine, go save the others."

"But madam..."

"I said go! I can take care of myself!" Diana said more firmly and he nodded waving down a black sedan with high security personnel inside to come to Diana's aid.

"Go with them, they will keep you safe," he said and rushed inside along with the others.

A group of men came out of the vehicle escorting Diana to step inside of the sedan. She looked out of the blacked out window and all she could see was flames. This was not how this was supposed to be, she thought.

"Yes, someone tried to assassinate the ambassador," the driver spoke to the prime minister's assistant over the car's phone line. He nodded listening to the man on the other end of the line, "yes sir. We'll bring her there immediately."

The man sitting next to her was one of the prime minister's coordinators and he reassured Diana that everything will be alright, just a minor setback. "Don't worry ma'am, we are taking you to the prime minister's headquarters. You will be safe there until..."

"Until _what_?" Diana turned towards him, her hair still a mess and covered in ashes from the explosion.

"Until we find out who did this and why," he said as he was on his phone typing frantically.

Diana looked out the window again and saw many people passing by the vehicle and suddenly the car came to a halt.

"What is going on?" the man in the back next to Diana asked leaning forward.

The driver sighed, "it's a mob of people. We need to go around them."

Diana leaned forward and saw people coming towards the car banging on the windows furiously. She backed away from the window and scooted closer to the middle of the seat.

"Are these people...angry at _me_?" Diana asked as she saw small children also involved in the massive mob of livid people attacking the government vehicle.

"Go down this alleyway if you can," the man addressed the driver and the car moved slowly through the crowd of people.

All Diana could think of was why these people wanted to attack this vehicle. They obviously knew that she was inside of the car and it displeased her as well as confused her. She didn't know someone could hate a person so much for no reason. Or was there a reason, she wondered?

"I'm sorry ambassador, what did you say?" the man leaned back into the seat again getting ready to call the prime minister now. "Yes this Demitri sir. We are heading your way but we're having some trouble. There seems to be a mob around the car at the moment," his Greek accent thick and Diana stared at the man sitting next to her. As he hung up the phone he noticed Diana staring at him.

"Why would someone want to kill me? I have done nothing to these people. Look at them, the children hate me for whatever reason I do not know," she stared out the window once more.

Demitri shook his head, "people always try to kill off the powerful ones, ma'am. This is not the first attempt of an assassination to one of our ambassadors."

"There is something wrong here. These people do not even know me," she said with utter disbelief.

Demitri sighed, "welcome to war, madam ambassador."

* * *

After twenty minutes of a drive they finally arrived at the prime minister's headquarters and Diana was ushered in with about ten men following her in front and behind her. She raced quickly through the long hallway and finally entered the prime minister's meeting room.

Everyone in the room stood up and she frowned, "Madam ambassador, are you alright?" the prime minister asked.

Diana sat down at the other end of the long table, "I would like to say I am fine, but I am not."

A female assistant came up to her offering her a warm towel and a large glass of water but Diana kindly refused.

Ten minutes later everyone in the room that was unneeded left and it was just the prime minister, Demitri and some guards standing by the door just in case.

"I am very sorry this has happened to you. Many of our ambassadors have perished in assassinations, but you have escaped. We will make sure that these terrorists are caught immediately," the prime minister said as his assistant took notes behind him.

Diana laced her fingers together, "Mr. Sadousi, I don't know what kind of country this is, but in my country nothing like this would be tolerated especially the mob that attacked and _followed_ me in my car for several blocks until I arrived here."

Minister Sadousi nodded his head at complete understanding why Diana would be so angry right now. "I understand where you come from you are a princess, is that right?"

"Yes I am and I will not tolerate something like this. I could have died in that embassy and you all are acting so casual about this situation," she was starting to get very angry and annoyed now the more she sat in the room.

Demitri added, "if they wanted to kill you, they would have at that very moment. Perhaps they sent someone in to bomb the embassy as a scare, a warning if you will."

Diana smiled smugly, "is that so? That is more than a warning if you ask me. I need to speak with Kal-El, where is he?" she stood up leaning on her hands against the table.

"I do not know of Kal-El's whereabouts, madam," Sadousi said calmly.

"_Can_ you kindly find him for me?" Diana gripped the granite table so hard it started to break off into pieces.

Everyone in the room saw that Diana was slowly breaking her end of the table and was astonished at her amount of strength. Clearly they have underestimated her strength. The council told them she was strong, but never mentioned what kind of power she possessed.

Demitri stood straightening out his tie, "I will go find out where he is right now," he quickly left the room and Diana was still standing.

"Do you know of anyone that may have come into the embassy that day? A person of suspicious origin perhaps?" Sadousi asked Diana in a calm firm voice.

Diana sat down and thought of everyone she saw that day as she came and went out of her office and into the lobby. Suddenly a face came to her mind as she was leaving the embassy right before the explosion.

"A man...a dark skinned man with dark eyes...he looked at me as I was leaving the embassy. I had never seen him before."

Sadoui's assistant began jotting down notes as Diana spoke. He nodded, "good, can you tell us more of what he looked like?"

Diana had a perfect picture of the man's face in her brain now. "Tall, a handsome face, thin framed and...I do not know, but he looked," she paused, "very odd to me. He gave me a strange smile as I was about to leave."

"and you have no connection with this man is that correct?" Sadousi asked just for clarification.

She shook her head, "No. Excuse me, I need to go to the restroom," she stood quietly and the doors opened for her as she exited. Her eyes scanned down each end of the hallway and she saw many people, mostly men walking through the hall. Each one passed her and all looked very similar, but each different with a special quality.

Diana went down the hallway heading towards the restroom and closed the door behind her slowly breathing to herself. She splashed water on her face and cleaned off the ash from her dress and ran her fingers through her hair a few times. As she stared at herself in the mirror she realized even more so now than ever before, she was not alone in this world. She had Kal and a baby to look after right now. At the same time she couldn't get those children in the mob out of her head. Something was not right and she couldn't exactly pinpoint it yet, but something was underneath her nose and she could smell it.

* * *

She came back into the room with the prime minster and leaned against the table once more, "I need to speak with the chief of military right away."

Sadousi raised his eyebrow leaning back in his large chair, "and why is that madam?"

"I know more about war than your general does and if it is a war we must have then I will be in charge starting right now. I do not want this country to perish and give up on their people. I would also like to speak to the Turkish prime minister."

"_What_? That is not a wise decision," Sadousi stood up from his chair putting his foot down now.

"You wanted me here and now you have me. I want to help and if you don't let me speak with him, then I will do it with or without you, sir." She said folding her arms now raising her chin.


	24. Chapter 24

Rosewater

Kal came through the prime minister's building and was scanning the place for Diana. Finally spotting her he quickly went down many hallways to find her and ask her what was going on.

He was on the military base with the general again and heard a very loud explosion in the distance earlier. Coming back to the embassy he found that it was in ruins and there had obviously been a deadly blast. Automatically thinking of Diana he knew that she couldn't be dead otherwise he would be alerted. He was able to figure out that she was in the prime minister's headquarters a few blocks away from the embassy, by hearing her voice, her _very_ angry voice. He was stopped by the two guards outside of Mr. Sadoui's meeting hall and he frowned at the two men.

"I need to get through," Kal stated folding his arms.

"I'm sorry you cannot go in there. The ambassador and prime minister are having a meeting right now," one of the guards told the irate man standing in front of him.

Kal squeezed the bridge of his nose tightly and sighed heavily, "I know the ambassador and I know about the embassy. Let me through, will you?" He was trying to ask as politely as possible but he could tell that they weren't going to budge.

"_Everyone_ knows the ambassador, sir," the guard smirked.

"Fine," Kal frowned, "just go in there and tell her that Kal is waiting here to see her."

The two men gave each other a glance and then looked back at the tall man again.

"Go ahead, just do it," Kal waited.

The tallest of the two guards sighed and opened the door interrupting the meeting between the two powers. "Sorry, but a man named Kal is here to see the ambassador. I didn't want to let him in."

Diana turned around placing a hand on her hip, "well it's about time," she stared at the guard who appeared to have a deer in the headlights look about him. "don't just stand there, tell him to get in here." She shook her head.

Kal overheard Diana speaking to the guard and both doors were opened for him. He sauntered in with a smug smile towards the two stubborn guards. Now that he was in the room he had a good look of Diana and saw that her eyes were wide, even wild, and her hair was a curly mess. Her face also had a bruise on the left side of her cheek, but that didn't seem to faze her one bit.

"Diana, are you alright?" he was in shock at her appearance.

Diana brushed his hands away from her body, "I'm alright although I cannot say the same for the others that perished in the embassy."

Kal nodded, "can I talk to you for a minute?" he addressed Diana that they might go somewhere more private.

Diana understood the gesture and nodded, "excuse us," they both left the room and they went into one of the restrooms closing the door behind.

* * *

Kal checked if anyone was in the bathroom and once the coast was clear he began, "what the hell happened? I was gone for no longer than half an hour and now I see that the embassy has been bombed."

Diana looked around now not feeling very safe to talk about anything she went to all the sinks and turned on all the faucets. Kal raised an eyebrow at what she was doing, but he didn't really want to question it.

"Someone tried to kill me," she whispered looking around cautiously.

"_What_?!" he yelled.

Diana put a hand over his mouth, "stop it! I don't know who would do this to me. I just got here and someone is already trying to assassinate me. I fear something is not right here, but I wish I knew what my fear stems from," she folded her arms thinking deeply.

"What do you mean by that? Do you know who this person was?" he asked quietly.

She shook her head, "if I knew then I wouldn't be here and they wouldn't be questioning me."

Kal started to pace around the bathroom, "this is really horrible. You didn't sign up for this. I don't think it is safe for you to be here right now, we should go back to Themyscira –to your mother and sisters and.."

"that will not solve anything and you know it!" She sighed, "I want to help this country as much as I can and I can't do it by abandoning my position. That is cowardly."

He looked at her while he paced and was in shock, "you are not a coward Diana. I can vouch for that, but this is seriously dangerous. You could have died!"

"I'm well aware of that but I did not, and for the love of Hera can you stop pacing like that, you're making me nauseous."

"Sorry," he grabbed and squeezed her upper arms, "we need to find out who did this and make them suffer for it."

Diana saw a look in Kal's eyes that she had never seen before and she wasn't sure she liked it very much even though she knew he meant well.

* * *

They returned to the meeting room while Sadousi was waiting in his chair patiently talking with his assistant. Diana sat down while Kal stood next to her with his hands behind his back.

"Well madam ambassador I am afraid I have bad news for you," Sadousi began.

"And what might that be? It can't possibly be any worse than this," Diana curtly said.

His assistant handed him the tablet he was typing on earlier, "the prime minister of Turkey is not willing to meet with you unless you go to his country."

Diana sighed, "then I will go there."

Kal raised his eyebrows at this and this might not be the place for him to say anything but he couldn't just let her do this. "No, it is not safe for her to go," he spoke out. He received a glare from Diana but at this point he didn't care.

"And _who_ are you to decide?" Diana addressed Kal firmly.

Sadousi rubbed his forehead and leaned back into his chair feeling a bit of tension in the room. "While I am going to agree with you Kal-El, it is ultimately her decision to proceed on this."

"With all due respect to the ambassador, as her...as it seems that she will do whatever she may wish, it is not safe for her to go on with this journey because she is pregnant."

Everyone in the room was silent and eyes were widened in shock. Diana turned around and now glared at Kal for stating this to everybody here in the room. She hadn't told anyone that she was pregnant or else she might not have gotten the job offer. Now that it was out in the open, things might be different and may change for her mission here.

Sadousi sighed and laced his fingers together on top of the table, "well, I was not aware of this."

Diana interrupted before he could continue, "This should not hinder my capabilities to fight for what is right and I should be allowed to make my own choices."

The prime minister stood straightening out his suit, "I will get in touch with our team and find out if something else can be arranged with the Turkish prime minister. Until then you may stay in a hotel across from here with all the protection you need." He nodded and exited the room as quickly as possible.

* * *

Half an hour later Diana and Kal were escorted to a room in the hotel Sadousi offered. The entire way there Diana didn't say a word to Kal and she set the hotel keys on the bed fixing her hair in the mirror. Kal was standing a few feet away from her and the tension in the room was very apparent.

"Diana, are you going to talk to me or just give me the silent treatment?"

Diana stopped and stared at him through the mirror then swiftly turned around and hit him on the arm, "why in Hades would you tell them that? What on earth were you thinking?" she began pacing and speaking in her native tongue to herself.

He sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, "well excuse me for taking our child into consideration," he bluntly stated.

Once she didn't stop pacing he began again, "you didn't tell them?"

She stopped and put her hands on her hips, "I didn't think it was necessary at the moment, Kal."

"And they didn't even _notice_?" he gestured to her body with a lifted brow.

She laughed softly, "of course they wouldn't notice. They are men and they don't notice things like that besides my body has not changed much since I have gotten here. The only person that notices is you, Kal."

"Okay, okay. Diana I am just concerned that is all. I have a right to be concerned don't I?"

Diana stopped and looked at him sitting next to him on the bed holding his hand in hers. "Of course you do. I'm sorry I have forgotten that I am not the only one in this world once again. I have been selfish, but I am still Diana, a princess, an ambassador, and it seems that I am not thinking of how my actions may affect the people who are most important around me."

"and I still love for you for who you are whether you're a princess, an ambassador and an amazon warrior. But now you are also a mother and as much as I want to see you succeed you need to think of another way to fix this problem."

Diana sighed wearingly at the situation at hand, "but how?"

Kal smiled kissing her bruised cheek, "I have faith in you that you will find another way. You are after all Diana, Princess of Themyscira, the best Amazon warrior on the island," he remembered the way she addressed herself to him all those months ago when they first met.

* * *

Demitri was working with a team of specialists to find out who the terrorist is that blew up the embassy and so far they didn't have any leads. He was watching all the computer screens as many locations and names popped up.

"Have you found anything yet?" He asked one of the analysts.

"Nothing yet, sir," the woman spoke and kept typing through codes and looking for prime suspects.

He nodded, "keep looking," and with that he exited the room. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and it was prime minister, Sadousi. "Sir."

Demitri was lead into a private room and the doors were guarded. Once inside there was only a table and two chairs. It was their special interrogation room.

Sadousi threw down a binder full of files onto the table and Demitri picked it up opening it and examining the files inside. They were all on Diana, every detail was in here down to what kind of food she enjoyed.

"I see you have requested the files I asked for. It's a bit late," Demitri said flipping through the pages of the notes.

Sadousi sat down in one of the chairs lighting up a cigarette, "you should look at page 94, section eight paragraph seven."

Demitri flipped to the page and his eyes scrolled down to the paragraph. He was confused as to why he was reading such a paragraph. He closed the binder and set it back on the table. "What am I looking for?"

"the princess's mother, Queen Hippolyta, is also politically active. She has been sending funds to Greece's military for the last year."

"So, what does that have to do with anything?" Demitri was definitely confused now.

"Did you not read the end of the page, Demitri?" He groaned as he opened the binder flipping to page 94 once more. He pointed his finger on Kal-El's name. "this man is not from earth. I knew he was suspicious when I first met him."

"Not from earth? Where is he from then? That seems impossible!"

Sadousi laughed, "boy, you are not attending enough political meetings are you? Many planets are in contact with earth these days. The countries that know are very limited, including ours."

Demitri was finally the two together now. "So is he a spy from another world then?"

Sadousi nodded, "from Krypton. The ambassador seems to trust him and always wants him by her side. He is a spy I am sure of it and so is the ambassador."

"And you sent the bomber into the embassy because you think she is a spy?"

Sadousi shook his head and took another hit of his cigarette, "no that was not from me. If she is a spy I wouldn't want to kill her straight away especially if she's pregnant...whoo," he sighed rubbing his chin. "I wasn't expecting that."

Demitri was just taking all of this in and he was starting to realize that his trusted friend, the prime minister was not only a conspiracy theorist but that he was in fact mad. In his mind he knew that Diana was not a spy and neither was Kal, otherwise their actions would be different. It was obvious to him that Diana wanted to help Greece end this war with Turkey and Lebanon so it didn't make sense what Sadousi was saying.

"Find more information on the Krypton man," he put out his cigarette and left the room leaving Demitri feeling oddly betrayed and puzzled over this entire situation.

* * *

Hippolyta sat in the throne room looking over the council's ruling on Antiope and Donna staying on Themyscira. They had agreed but said that since Themyscira is a growing, prospering country now that it needs t pay specified taxes to the council in order to maintain its international relationship. As she sat in her throne she couldn't help but think about Diana. She hadn't heard from her daughter in two weeks now and it really worried her. She also wondered how Kal's parents were taking this change in direction in their son's life. She didn't know the details about their last parting but apparently she heard from Diana that it took well over two hours of convincing for him to accompany her to Greece.

The more she thought about it the more she hoped that Diana would contact her and every day she waited for some kind of communication but yet there was nothing. Hippolyta was proud of herself for raising a daughter like Diana and was grateful that she had a daughter like her. She also began to grow a liking to Donna as well. While Diana was away Donna kept her company from time to time. Mostly it was just her answering Donna's many questions about the amazon sisters, herself and Antiope. Hippolyta could tell that Donna really loved her mother and was open to any questions she had.

Just in time, Donna came into the throne room carrying a small brown sack with her.

"Hello Hippolyta, how are you today? I see you are very busy," Donna smiled and stopped midway from the throne.

Hippolyta set down the scrolls and sighed, "it is just like any other day my dear. What do you have in your bag there?" She was rather curious.

Donna shrugged her shoulders, "it's just some shells I found on the beach earlier. They are so beautiful and I thought I might make a bracelet out of them or something."

Hippolyta smiled nodding at her niece.

"Have you heard from Diana yet?" Donna asked.

"Unfortunately I haven't got any word from her as of late."

Donna smiled, "I am sure she is alright. She is with Kal-El after all and he is a very nice man from what I gathered just at the sight of him."

Hippolyta agreed, "yes he is. Diana is lucky to have a man like Kal, but there is a part of me that still worries for her."

"No need to worry, Hippolyta. She is in good hands although I can't say the same for the other people that she is around right now," Donna pulled out a shell from the bag. It was peach colored and rather small. She handed it to Hippolyta, "for you. I spoke with Mala and asked what color was Diana's favorite and she said it was peach. You can have it as a reminder of her until she returns," she smiled.

Hippolyta took the small shell no larger than the size of her palm, "thank you Donna. You remind me of a younger version of Diana."

"Maybe it is because we look so much alike. We even have the same color eyes and hair," she brushed her fingers through her raven locks.

"Aside from your similar looks, it is much more than that. Both of you have a wild and kind spirit, although Diana has always been more rebellious than I wished."

Donna nodded and closed up her sack throwing it over her shoulder. "Thank you for making time to speak with me but now I must try and construct a bracelet. I hope you hear from Diana very soon." She left the room and exited the palace to find a nice shady area outside to make her shell jewelry.

About an hour later Donna completed two bracelets with the shells she had found on the beach. Her light was blocked by a shadowy figure and she groaned looking up to see one of her brothers.

"Alexander, you're blocking my light," she said trying to string the shells together.

The young man sat down next to the princess, "sorry, princess. What are you doing?"

"Making a bracelet, what are _you_ doing?" Donna replied playfully.

Alexander looked around to see many of the sisters doing their daily activities and his attention was focused on the princess now. "I overheard some of the sisters talking earlier behind the library."

Donna was concentrating on her new hobby and she was barely listening, "So? That's what women do, Alex, they talk...a lot."

"They weren't just talking casually, princess. They were talking about you and the Queen," he meant Antiope and hoped that would spike Donna's attention but it didn't. He sighed as he realized she wasn't paying attention, "I overheard them talking about the Bana amazons. Somehow someone told the Bana that you and your mother are back on Themyscira's soil."

Donna stopped making her bracelet, "what? Alexander this better not be some silly gossip. This is very serious. All the amazons were told not to speak to the Bana about this."

Alexander shook his head, "no princess I swear it is not gossip. It is the truth, I heard it with my own ears."

"We must tell Hippolyta. Come with me," she grabbed his hand and she went for the palace.

* * *

Diana did not sleep all night even with Kal next to her. She was now on alert for anything to happen. One minute it was a boring peaceful day at the embassy and the next it was being blown up. She didn't feel safe and she didn't know who to trust anymore. Lolling her head over to Kal's side he was just stirring awake now. He opened his eyes and smiled at the sight of Diana.

"Good morning, how did you sleep?" he asked kissing her neck.

"I didn't," she folded her arms as she lay in bed staring at the ceiling.

He sighed, "me neither. I got at least one hour of sleep at the most," he got up and started to head for the shower. "I heard you get up during the night a few times."

Diana sat up in bed leaning against the headboard, "I was restless. I cannot help feeling like people are watching my every move now."

"I can understand that, but you are being taken care of thanks to Mr. Sadousi," he grabbed a towel and turned on the shower in the bathroom.

"Because that makes me feel _so_ much better," she mumbled. "Kal," she called out before he was about to close the door.

Kal stopped and stared at her. He saw that her face was tired, confused and serious all at the same time. "Yes, Diana?"

"Where did you go after you left the embassy?"

Oh no here comes that question. He knew he probably wasn't going to be taking a shower so he turned it off and stepped out of the bathroom. "I went to the military base to speak with general Andre."

Diana's eyebrows cinched and she had a frown, "I told you that you needed to tell me when you were going to do that!"

"I did tell you, I didn't think I needed to say every time I went," Kal sat on the bed by her side with a hand on her leg.

"never mind that. I would like to speak to General Andre as soon as possible, but first I want to speak with my mother," she got out of bed throwing a robe over her body. She opened the door and the guards were still standing by the door. She thought that was a bit much.

"I would like to contact my mother," she told one of the guards.

"Sorry no outside phone calls, ambassador," one of the guards told her and that was it. no discussion.

Diana was incensed about this. She demanded that she speak to her mother, "Excuse me, but I need to talk to her. I think she has a right to know what is going on. Now, I will ask again, I would like to contact my mother."

"you cannot make any phone calls, ma'am."

"Why not? Who forbids this?" she folded her arms.

One of the guards was getting annoyed with Diana. "Mr. Sadousi told us this morning that you are not allowed to make outside calls right now given the situation. I'm sorry."

Diana turned and shut the door and started looking through the suitcase of clothes that were brought to her by Sadoui's assistant yesterday. She found black pants and a blouse and immediately started changing. Kal was wrapped in just a bath towel and stood up watching Diana change in a hurry.

"Whoa, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to talk to Sadousi. I deserve to speak to my mother and he cannot just forbid me to make phone calls. This is absurd," she brushed her hair quickly and slipped on her heels opening the door and went for the elevators. The guards quickly followed behind her. She turned around putting her hand up, "don't follow me." She stepped in the elevator and the doors slid closed.

* * *

As soon as she exited the hotel she walked across the street to the facility she was escorted to yesterday. She barged into one of Sadoui's meetings and everyone in the room stopped conversing.

"ah, madam ambassador, what can I do for you?" Sadousi said clearing his throat a little peeved that she just barged into the room like this.

Diana folded her arms, "you forbade me to speak to anyone outside of the country. What kind of moronic rule is that?"

Sadousi nodded to his guests and they quickly dispersed leaving just him and Diana in the room now.

"It is for your own protection," he said.

Diana huffed, "I'll have you know that I possess the strength greater than one hundred of your men. I do not need _protection_, sir."

Sadousi waved his hand around nonchalantly, "and what of your...partner? Does he possess similar strengths?"

"We are not talking about Kal-El and he is _not_ my partner," she said defiantly.

"then why would you bring him all the way from Krypton?" Sadousi smiled smugly.

Diana felt her stomach drop at hearing this. They weren't supposed to know anything about Kal except that he was part of her entourage that she requested to accompany her to take this profession.

"How did you get this information?" Diana demanded to know.

Sadousi stood and came close to Diana, circling her like a vulture. "I know more than you think princess. Don't cross me." He left the room and Diana stood there feeling a little more than freaked out. She needed to get back to Kal immediately. She was surprised that he didn't follow her or maybe those guards told him not to. She knew he could easily take them, but with what he revealed yesterday, she was sure that he wasn't going to cause any more problems for her, hopefully.

She exited the building and saw the hotel in front of her. She wanted to go back, but thought of another idea. She looked to the guards in front of a government vehicle. She approached them, "take me to the embassy."

"It is in ruins, madam, and I am not finished with this yet" the driver said smoking a cigarette.

She grabbed his cigarette and stomped it out with her heel, "it appears you are finished. Please take me the embassy or I will go by myself." She knew that they couldn't let her go by herself so he was forced to take her. He then unwillingly opened the door for her step inside and she smiled sweetly. "Thank you."

Upon arriving at the embassy there was a mob of people around the burnt building. She stepped out of the car by herself and approached the building. Everyone around stopped yelling and gasped as they saw her standing in front of them.

"This is a government building and you are desecrating it with paint and angry empty words," Diana spoke to everyone in front of her.

"It's ruined anyway, why do you care?" a young man appearing to be in his twenties shouted from the back of the crowd.

Diana sighed, "I need to get through, step aside please," she told the crowd but they didn't move.

A woman frowned, "you are the one who causes war upon our people!" everyone then chimed in agreeing with the woman.

"I have done nothing but help your people," Diana was almost hurt that someone she didn't even know would say something like that.

"you're just like the rest of them! Corrupt, power hungry and evil," another one yelled from afar.

Diana shook her head, "no, no...that is not true. I am just like you all," she was appalled over their behavior towards her.

A group of teenagers started laughing, "isn't she a princess?" one said aloud.

"As if we need a monarch trying to destroy our country. We have enough corrupt government as it is," one of the teenagers voiced.

The driver came up to Diana and rest his hand on her shoulder, "ambassador I think we should leave before something else happens. Don't mind them, they hate the world."

Diana backed away from the embassy and stepped in the car once more. They drove off slowly as she continued to watch the crowd outside laughing and yelling inaudible comments. She shook her head at them. They are so lost, she thought.

"Take me to the military base," Diana said bluntly.

The driver sighed, "yes ma'am."

**AN: things are getting more intense between all sides of the story! The Els will be next as they will pay a visit to a certain someone. Enjoy :)**


	25. Chapter 25

Strategic Warfare

Diana's driver was driving slowly ahead on a dirt road far outside of the city. She looked around out of the window and observed her surroundings. She had spoken with the military general briefly when she came to Athens but when she was transferred to Crete she had not spoken with him since she arrived, which was two weeks ago. Perhaps she will finally be able to ask him what he and Kal talk about without her permission. Although she wasn't here to interrogate or antagonize anybody.

The car stopped at the military base behind a large gate. The driver put the car into park and looked to Diana in the back seat.

"Well ambassador, we are here. Why did you want to come here?"

Diana stepped out of the car without answering and the driver sighed stepping out of the vehicle as well.

"Madam?" he called out as Diana was heading towards the gate.

She pressed the button and stated her name and at once the gates were opened automatically.

"I'm going to have to inform the prime minister that you have come here, you know this don't you?" the driver said as Diana was about to walk into the base.

Diana turned, "he is not my keeper. Do not alert him, I am not here to negotiate anything with the general." She turned and walked forward and she turned her head slightly, "also, do not follow me please."

She was greeted by two guards standing outside of the military base office and she nodded letting herself in the building. Swinging the doors open she stomped ahead her heels hitting the tile quite loudly. She noticed that the building was not as extravagant as her embassy or any other government building within the city limits. As she kept walking forward she now realized that the building did not have air conditioning either, but the weather reminded her of her home so she was not fazed at all, but still. This facility should be renovated and inspected like all other government facilities out there. She now realized how money was spent in this country now and it was not spent on their military forces as she hoped it would be. On Themyscira all the amazons were trained since the beginning of time, to fight until the death. There was no other way and even now they still trained just in case of a war breaking out. The amazons were always prepared. Perhaps this is why Sadousi did not want her to contact the Turkish prime minister –because he was ashamed of their awful military.

Diana stopped at the office of General Andre. She knocked on the door and when there was no answer she opened the door slowly. She saw he was busy overlooking some documents.

"Excuse me, sir," she knocked on the door once more and the General looked up from his mass of papers. He immediately recognized her and stood up saluting to her.

"Madam Ambassador. Sorry, um, please sit down," he ran over to the door and closed it carefully and went back to his desk. "Do you want some tea or water?"

Diana shook her head, "no thank you. I am fine."

He nodded, "what brings you here to my office?" he asked setting his papers aside to deal with at a later time.

Diana looked around his office and saw his view was quite magnificent as it overlooked the Mediterranean Sea and she saw a few of the soldiers doing some training outside as well. "I just came here to observe and to ask a few questions."

He exhaled slowly, "forgive me. Ambassadors do not normally come to the military base to meet with me."

Diana raised an eyebrow at this. Why wouldn't an ambassador come see the chief of the military? That sounded very odd to her. Her mother was in charge of everything on Themyscira and here they had a person for everything. A prime minister, an ambassador, a military general, assistants and so forth. It seemed like a lot of people to her, but then she took in the amount of people that lived in a country –which was much larger than her island.

"Well," she began, "I am sure you have heard what has happened at the embassy in the city, no?"

"No I was not briefed on anything in the last twenty four hours. What has happened?"

Diana scoffed and nodded smiling to herself. "How does one run a country without notifying all of the government officials?!" she stood up now pacing the room mumbling to herself in her mother tongue. The general stood up and looked a bit distressed about the ambassador pacing in his office frantically.

"Ma'am...ma'am," he waved his hand and was able to catch her attention. "Are you speaking Greek?" he looked very confused.

"I'm sorry. It is something I do when I am stressed out in these types of situations," she stopped and sat back down in the chair.

"the dialect is very...peculiar. it is the language of your country?" he was trying to distract her but was also genuinely very curious. He didn't get to speak with her much since their first visit and even then their conversation was very limited. She mainly spoke to the prime minister during her arrival.

Diana smiled as he spoke of her homeland, "yes it is. I know it is not the same as the Greek spoken here, but it is undeniably very similar."

"indeed," he decided to speak in Greek rather than English to her for the remainder of her time here in his office. "So what happened at the embassy and why was not alerted?"

Diana noticed in the immediate change of language and as it shocked her first it came naturally to her so she responded, "there was a bombing incident at the embassy, sir. I am ashamed of this country and how it operates. You of all people should have been notified first."

He nodded, "yes I should have. I myself, do not trust the officials in the big house. They are always concocting plans without my approval or insight."

This made Diana think that the prime minister was up to more than she initially thought. First she was allowed no outside calls after her embassy had been blown up, and then escorted to a hotel with special 'protection'. It all seemed very odd to her that she needed this protection. Were they not briefed on her amount of strength? Apparently not.

Diana then asked, "may I use your phone?"

The General nodded and pushed the phone towards her and she smiled as a thank you and immediately dialed the number on the Kryptonian device in the palace. She didn't know who was going to pick up or even if they knew how, but she needed someone to answer the 'phone' at least. She could hear the call connecting and figured that it would take awhile for the call to be forwarded to Themyscira, considering it was an island outside of other technology.

* * *

Hippolyta was in the throne room speaking with Phillipus about the next meeting with the council in two days and they heard a beeping sound coming from the wall nearby. Both looked around and saw the panel on the wall turn bright green and continued to beep quietly.

"What does that mean?" Phillipus asked as she approached the beeping panel.

Hippolyta looked at it as well, "maybe someone is trying to contact us."

"From Krypton maybe?"

Hippolyta pressed one of the buttons and the beeping stopped. On the other line it was quiet and then a rather familiar feminine voice was heard from the other end.

"_Hello_?" Diana said hoping that someone was on the other line ready to speak with her.

A beaming smile came to the Queen's face as she heard Diana's voice for the first time in two weeks, two long weeks. "Diana, is that you?"

A relieving sigh was heard, "_mother I am so happy to hear your voice. I hoped someone would answer my call and glad it was you."_

"As I am pleased to hear your voice, daughter. How are you doing? Is everything alright there?" Hippolyta still smiling but inside was worried for her only daughter on the other side of the world.

"_I can't talk long mother, but I need to release this information as I am not allowed to make outside calls to anybody. This might be monitored but I want you to listen carefully," _she paused dreading to hear her mother's response to this shocking news. "_My embassy was bombed while I was in the building yesterday. I have spoken with the prime minister and I wish to meet with Turkey's prime minister soon I hope, if Kal allows it,"_ her voice changed into an annoyed tone as she said Kal's name.

Hippolyta was silent once she heard the embassy had been bombed. She took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly. "Are you alright, Diana? And what about the baby and Kal?"

_"The baby is fine and so is Kal. He was not there when it happened. I cannot talk long so I want you to tell the council what has happened. Can you do that, mother?"_

There was a long pause before Hippolyta was able to respond, "Yes," she sighed, "I will tell them immediately. I shall leave after this."

She couldn't see it but Diana smiled nodding her head for some relief in this chaos. "_Thank you, mother. I need to go now. I hope to see you and everyone soon."_

"Be safe Diana. I know you will make great strides there as ambassador of war and peace. May the gods be with you," Hippolyta heard the call end abruptly and she sighed. "By the gods, I should have never let Diana go there! It is so unsafe there and I let her go there...I am so foolish."

Phillipus lend a hand to her trusted long time friend feeling the pain of a loved one in danger. She loved Diana as much as Hippolyta did and this news was not something she wanted to hear. "Hippolyta, you cannot make decisions for her. She is a grown woman and does as she pleases, ever since she was a child she has made her own choices on her own. She knows what she is doing."

The Queen nodded, "Let us go to the council right now and call an emergency meeting right away," she turned and was heading for the exit and bumped into Donna and a rather handsome male amazon accompanying her.

"Oh sorry, your highness. I need to discuss something important with you," Donna said as her eyes were frantic and she could tell that the queen was in a bit of a daze herself.

Hippolyta put up her hand, "not now Donna. I have more important matters to deal with."

"But Hippolyta," she yelled out and the queen turned around swiftly with a frown. "your highness, it is really urgent and I must tell you right now."

"this urgent news will have to wait until I return from the states. Keep your train of thought, Donna and ask your mother to watch the palace while I am absent." She left and a jet was prepared for her by Phillipus immediately.

Donna folded her arms and huffed, "are you serious? What is so urgent that she cannot wait to hear this more important news?"

Alexander just stood beside her not saying a word. This was the first time he had laid close eyes on the queen since he came to Themyscira from asylum.

"Per-haps..perhaps it has something to do with the princess," he stuttered softly.

"Diana is not the only princess on this island anymore. I too have authority here according to the council, my mother and Hippolyta. I will not stand here do nothing about this potential crisis! Come with me, we shall find my mother," she grabbed his hand and ran out of the palace.

They ran for about two miles across the island, he huffed and stopped running with the young princess. "How do you expect to find her on this island? It is massive and she could be anywhere!"

"Then stay here and I will find her!" Donna lifted off the ground and flew into the sky looking for that striking blonde hair her mother donned. After about two minutes flying she was not far from where she was standing earlier so she flew down to greet her. She appeared to be talking with a few of the amazons. "Mother."

Antiope stopped conversing, "hello Donna, what are you doing here? Were you not on the beach earlier?"

"May I speak to you...alone?" Donna said staring at the others circled around. The sisters nodded and left the conversation to attend to business elsewhere.

Antiope frowned, "what is the meaning of this?"

"Mother I need to tell you something very important. Hippolyta has left to go to the states to speak with the council and I did not have time to tell her."

"Well, what is it, girl?" Antiope folded her arms.

Donna didn't know how to say this given her past with the Bana, especially Artemis. She had never been able to meet them but from the discussions she's had with her mother, the Bana were not like the regular amazons that she had met. Their culture even differed from theirs, except Donna and her mother worshipped the Egyptian gods instead of the Greeks just as the Bana did. She had done some research about the Bana in the library before in her early years and only found that they only came with chaos and destruction.

"The Bana amazons know that we are here supposedly. I heard from a reliable source," Donna whispered.

Antiope looked around and then eyed her daughter very carefully, "are you sure of this?"

"I am positive that they know. I knew that they would figure it out eventually, but not this quickly." Donna shook her head in disappointment.

"And you say Hippolyta has left the island, correct?"

Donna nodded confirming her mother's question.

Antiope sighed, "I must hold a meeting with the royal guard at once and alert them of what has happened. I do not wish death and destruction upon my sister and her people. I will not let it happen, _again_."

* * *

Diana set the phone down after hanging up and she sighed. She was happy to hear her mother's voice even if she relayed some horrible news to her. It was still nice to hear from her even if it was for a short time.

"Your mother cares for you deeply," the general smiled at Diana.

"She does," she nodded. Too bad I have just realized this thousands of miles away from home, she thought to herself. "Now down to business, general," Diana folded her hands in her lap. "Tell me what you and Kal-El have been discussing since my arrival."

The general looked worried and he straightened his shirt, "it is nothing illegal, madam, but he was telling me where he comes from that they have copious amounts of technology that could really help our military."

Diana nodded, "indeed and I have been exposed to this technology. It is not that his 'home' will not help, but it is a matter of what kind of technology you desire and how you will acquire it as well as the permission from myself along with the prime minister."

He nodded, "of course I would tell you if I decided to comply with this generous offer and I do believe that our military is not strong enough to defeat Turkey. Kal-El was able to help me with a few papers of a treaty with Lebanon. They are now our allies and willing to help fight against Turkey."

Diana realized that even though Kal did not tell her that he was doing secret work behind her back, he was actually helping out the country immensely. She only wished that Sadousi was able to see the work that Kal was doing behind the scenes. Now she felt bad for telling him that everything needed to be briefed with her prior to his meetings with the general. Though she wanted to be taken seriously, she knew that Kal loved her and meant well so now she understood why he was here.

Diana looked out the window and saw a jet flying over the base and over the building. She got up and ran for the exit as fast as possible and saw the jet flying in the direction of the city. The general ran behind her and he saw her heading for the car parked outside of the gates.

"Ambassador, where are you going?"

"I'm sorry I need to go. I will speak with Kal-El and possibly work out something with his people," she ran off as the gates opened. "I promise I will!" she called out and stepped into the car. The driver was waiting inside and backed up slowly. "Take me to the city as fast as you can."

The driver looked a little alarmed at her frantic attitude. "What is the reason for all this..driving around, ambassador?"

"Just take me there!" Diana firmly said and he obeyed zooming off back to the city. She could easily just fly there in a matter of seconds but that might been seen as odd since apparently they didn't know the extent of her godly powers. She was fidgeting in her seat as they drove quickly through the streets. She kept her eyes on the jet not far ahead of them and noted where it might land.

* * *

A few minutes later they were now in the city's square. "Where to now, ma'am?" the driver said as they were stuck at a light.

Diana groaned and opened the car door in open traffic. A car beside her honked their horn and she ran across the street in the midst of a roundabout. Many cars swerved to the side honking loudly at her. She watched the jet land and she noticed that it was going to the landing area close to her embassy.

The driver stepped out the car yelling at her, "ambassador!" he got back in the car and put the vehicle in drive. "I don't get paid enough to deal with this lady." Suddenly he looked and saw she was gone and flying in the sky. "Oh my god..." his mouth gaped in shock.

Kal was getting some lunch hoping that Diana would return soon wherever she might be. It was clear that she did not want to be followed and he stepped out a local shop not far from the hotel they now were kept in. he saw a shadow above him and looked up and surprised to see Diana flying as clear as day.

"What the hell?" he mumbled and looked around finding an alley nearby. He took to the skies discreetly and caught up with Diana. "What are you doing?!" he grabbed her arm gently.

Diana was shocked to Kal flying right next to her. "Gods Kal don't scare me like that! I am following a jet that I saw earlier."

Kal wanted to ask where she was but he knew that she probably wouldn't tell him. Instead he kept flying by her side. "I know you probably don't want to hear this right now, but I don't think you should be flying right now."

Diana sure didn't want to hear one of Kal's lectures right now. "Yes I know, but I am working right now, Kal. By the way I met with General Andre. He was very kind to me and spoke to me about you," she smiled.

"You went to the military base? Rao what have been doing this morning, Diana?" he could only imagine. "Wait," he stopped and she stopped flying midair waiting for him to continue. But it was obvious that she was more focused on the jet at the moment. "How were you able to leave the city limits?"

Diana scoffed, "I am no one's prisoner, Kal, not even Sadousi can keep me in that hotel of 'protection' as he calls it. there's a lot more going on that you and I know. I intend to find out what it is. By the way," she whispered, "I alerted my mother of what has occurred here. She is I bet, alerting the council at this very moment."

Kal nodded, "good Diana. The council should know. I'll have you know that I myself, do not trust Sadousi and his _team_. The general and I were talking and..."

Diana held up her hand, "not now Kal. There are spies everywhere." She landed near the embassy and he did as well. She and Kal walked the rest of the way to her desired destination. Diana saw the landing area and the jet was now gone. "Damn, it has gone."

"I can track it if you want," Kal said quietly. He started scanning the skies at a long distance and found the jet heading east from their location. "It is heading east."

Diana folded her arms, "east. Towards Turkey."

She then turned to Kal and backed up behind a building nearby. "Kal I need you to do something for me. I want you to go to the prime minister's headquarters and retrieve some files for me."

"Are you serious?" Kal was just thinking of the amount of trouble he could get into for this.

She nodded, "you are faster than me Kal and I am a target. I cannot go anywhere without being recognized. Just go in and come out. I know the exact room where all the files are kept on foreign affairs."

Kal smiled, "I don't need a blue print. I have xray vision, remember?" he teased.

She slapped him on the shoulder, "now's not the time for your jokes," she hid her smile, but he caught it. "now listen to me carefully, Kal. I need you to grab files on the Turkish prime minister, myself and you as well."

His face turned from jesting to serious in a millisecond. "they have files on us?"

"Yes. Sadousi is not playing fairly. I intend to find out exactly what he is up to and possibly stop him from future corruption of Greece."

"Okay," he sighed readying himself for this mission. This was going to be thrilling yet dangerous all at the same time. "What else do you need?"

Diana smiled as she saw he was willing to comply with her plan, "I also need files on any foreign policy you can find in the room. We're partners, right?"

Kal smiled nodding his head, "partners indeed we are."

Diana kissed him briefly and smiled, "meet me at the cafe down the street from the hotel. I do not trust those guards standing outside of our room." He stood there just thinking over the plan and then staring at her. She pushed him out into the open, "go, go!"

"Yes ma'am!" he zoomed off.

She shook her head, "silly," she then left to go to the cafe and wait for him there. She knew what she was asking was a bit dangerous, but she couldn't do it, not alone anyway. Her mother always told her when in battle do whatever needs to be done in the end to win and that was exactly what she was doing. What she did learn from the Bana amazons, especially Artemis, was that sometimes playing dirty in a war was necessary particularly when there are snakes around.

* * *

Fifteen minutes went by and Diana sat in the back of a cafe waiting for Kal to meet her. When ten minutes passed she was getting a bit worried. Looking out the window she saw him coming towards the cafe casually. She smiled adjusting herself in the seat awaiting his arrival.

Kal entered and sat down across from her. Luckily the cafe was dark and they were in a corner, per Diana's request. He pulled out a thick folder from his jacket full of the files he was able to find in the clerk's file room.

He whispered, "I couldn't find anything on foreign policy, but everything else is there. I am not sure when they will find out it is missing."

Diana opened the folder and found a file on her and Kal first. She was reading it carefully and noticed that a lot of detail about herself was put in this file. "They even know my favorite color, type of food I like and dislike. How would they obtain information like this?"

"I do not know. What does it say in my file?"

She opened his file and looked it over, "gods...this is ridiculous. They believe that you are a spy and I have asked you to come here suggesting I am working for a secret society. This is laughable."

Kal didn't get a chance to look at the files for himself while he was snagging them but he couldn't believe what was coming out of Diana's mouth right now. A spy? Are they serious?

Diana flipped a few pages and continued to be astonished. "they know you are from Krypton as well," she read aloud.

"How would they know this? The council did not tell them who I was when you spoke to them, right?"

She shook her head.

"then we must have someone spying on us," he thought, quickly scanning the area listening to conversations all around the buildings nearby the cafe and inside too.

Diana frowned, "or they are really good spies themselves. I need to get this information out to the council somehow."

"they will notice it is gone," Kal immediately said now becoming a little paranoid at everyone near him and Diana.

Diana gaped, "they have a file on our child as well, but look at this. All of these files are dated and they did not find out I was pregnant until yesterday. This file has been stamped a few days before my arrival."

"So they have known all along then?" Kal was even more confused than before. How could that be possible?

"why would Sadousi act so surprised finding out I was pregnant if he supposedly knew this entire time?" Diana flipped through more pages as the gears in her head started to turn. She was trying to think of all the possible solutions but she had none.

"Or maybe he didn't know and someone else does," Kal said quietly setting his hand on top of hers.

She looked up and maybe Kal was onto something now. He could be right, but she needed more information to expose whoever is finding out this information and why.

**AN: sorry but classes have started for me and since this is the first week of class my homework load is minimal but it will increase and I won't be able to update as often as I usually did this past few months! But I won't forget about you all. Thank you for reading and reviewing as always! Enjoy this until next time... :)**


	26. Chapter 26

My Homeland

Diana handed Kal the files back, "you need to return these files immediately before they figure out they are gone."

Kal sighed taking the files from Diana and searched inside of the file office where he retrieved the files from. So far nobody was anywhere near the room and he had to work fast in order to get the files back where they belong. He left the cafe in a blur leaving Diana alone.

She waited awhile before getting up making sure that there was no one suspicious watching her or possibly watching over her. She exited the cafe putting on her sunglasses casually walking to the prime minister's head quarters. She thought Kal would have put the files back by now with how fast he was as he liked to brag about. She walked through the doors suddenly feeling like she was on a bigger mission than she was when she appointed the position as ambassador.

Demitri was waiting outside one of the meeting rooms and she assumed that Sadousi was in one of his meetings, but with who? He smiled at her bowing slightly at her presence.

"Good afternoon ambassador I trust you are well."

Diana stopped in front of the door, "afternoon. I am well, is the prime minister in a meeting right now?" she tried to listen carefully but the walls were too dense for her to catch any voices.

"Yes," he paused, "he is in a virtual meeting with the Turkish prime minister as we speak. He is discussing what has happened to your embassy yesterday."

It was hard to believe that all of this chaos only occurred yesterday and there is more to the story as Diana had found out earlier at the cafe. She kept her eyes and ears open for any sudden movements and strange activity.

Suddenly the door opened and Sadousi emerged from the room. Upon seeing the sight of Diana looking rather serious he smiled nodding curtly towards her.

"Ambassador, how are you this fine afternoon?" he asked handing some documents to Demitri. She eyed his exact movements very carefully. She made note of that to tell Kal about the files later whenever she able to see him. She also hoped her mother had alerted the council about this disaster and they would come to her aid very soon.

"I am doing well as I've told Demitri," she turned to the young man and he turned his eyes away from her. Another movement that she made a mental note of.

"Tonight," Sadousi began walking the halls and Diana followed beside him as his body guards trailed behind. "Is a special banquet that has been prepared in your honor."

Diana was shocked at this news. A banquet just for her? That seemed very strange or maybe it was only strange because of the extra information she came across. "A banquet for me?"

Sadousi nodded, "yes at seven in the Grand Hall a few miles away from here. We host all of our banquets in that hall every year. You have served at Greece's ambassador for two weeks now. You deserve a celebration, do you not?" his smile only made Diana more suspicious.

She returned a fake smile, "of course prime minister I will be there, but I do not believe I have anything to wear. All my clothes were in the embassy when the attack occurred."

Sadousi shook his head and put his hands on Diana's shoulders squeezing them tightly, "no worries madam, I have already sent out one of my female assistants to pick out a few gowns for you for this evening. You can choose from the twenty some odd dresses she chooses. Fair, no?"

The longer he held onto Diana's shoulders the more uneasy she felt. She nodded, "that sounds lovely."

He nodded, "great! They will be available to you once you return to your hotel room in an hour." He walked off, "sorry I have some business to attend to. Oh and I have arranged for the Turkish prime minister to come to the banquet tonight so you may finally meet him. Afternoon, ambassador."

Diana raised an eyebrow and turned the other way as soon as he rounded the corner. That was a strange interaction. Demitri caught Diana leaving and he ran towards her to open the doors for her. She stopped at the sight of him being so courteous.

"thank you Demitri," she stepped out of the building and was heading toward the hotel –the hotel with many body guards guarding her door. She inwardly sighed.

Demitri called out, "do you need any assistance to the hotel ma'am?"

"No I will be fine," she walked down the street and turned around, "oh and tell your driver that I'm sorry for what happened today." And she walked onward.

That last statement made Demitri very confused and what could that possibly mean, he wondered?

* * *

Sadousi was right about the gowns being delivered within an hour. Diana patiently waited in the room for the woman to show up and she rightfully did show and with more than twenty gowns. Somehow Kal was able to beat her to the hotel and they did not speak to each other since what happened earlier fearing that the room may be bugged or something.

"I have brought over forty gowns for you to choose from ambassador. It was the prime minister's request," the young lady said wheeling in wracks full of gorgeous gowns. Diana looked through many of the gowns. It was hard for her to choose between all of them as they were all very beautiful. Kal would probably say that anything she wore would be beautiful, but she doubted that.

"you didn't need to bring all of these. Ten gowns to choose from would have been sufficient." Diana said picking out three dresses that were the most to her liking.

Kal circled around the bed coming to look at the choices with Diana. He pointed to the deep purple chiffon dress, "you would look great in that one. You should choose that one, Diana," he smiled.

Diana looked over her shoulder hinting at a small smile and she nodded. "This one will do," she grabbed the purple gown flooring the young woman.

"you do not wish to look at the other gowns I have brought?" she was astonished at how fast she was able to choose. Many other clients were not so quick to make a decision.

Diana shook her head folding the gown in her arms, "I do not need to look at the rest. My decision is final but it was awfully kind of you to take the time to pick out all of them for me. Thank you very much," she grinned and the woman smiled taking the carts of gowns out of the room and closing the door behind her.

"You always looked very nice in purple," Kal kissed her forehead and Diana blushed.

"You would say that about any other color, Kal."

He shrugged, "you look good in _anything_, princess. I mean...ambassador," he teased.

Diana hung up the dress on the bathroom door hanger and turned around slipping her heels off. She then approached Kal wrapping her arms around his neck staring deeply into his blue eyes. "Will you do me the honor of being my date tonight?"

His eyes found the ceiling and he smirked, "well I don't know I think I'll have to check my schedule, ambassador."

"I'll have your schedule cleared," she smiled and pushed him onto to the bed.

He was a little shocked at her sudden behavior given what they had found out earlier in those files. "Whoa, what has come over you?"

She started to unbutton his shirt and frowned, "you don't want to?"

"What?" he laughed, "of course I do, why would I refuse you? Not like you're really giving me the option." He saw that she threw his shirt to the floor and she slipped off her blouse as well as her bra. His eyes widened at all of her gloriousness right in front of him. He was almost speechless. Although it obviously wasn't the first time seeing Diana naked, somehow it was different this time.

"you look...different," he observed.

Diana smiled slowly coming down to kiss his neck and shoulders. "Different in a good way?" she slipped off her black pants and threw them on the floor. Kal's hands were resting on her much wider hips and they traveled up to her more well endowed chest. A smile came to his lips as he suddenly felt like a little boy in a candy shop right about now.

"You appear to be in good health ma'am but I think I'm going to have to inspect a little further," he teased. "You know, just in case," he winked.

She shook her head at his joking manner and slowly joined her body onto his letting her hair gradually fall over his and her face creating a curtain of some sort.

"Is this close enough for your _inspection_?" she said in a breathy voice.

He kissed the tip of her nose and could feel her hot breath on his mouth the closer she got and they were pretty close. Ever since they had come to Greece they weren't really able to have any quality time together and he supposed that Diana was going to make the time and he definitely didn't mind that.

About ten minutes later he noticed that his stamina was built up inside him and he could go longer but Diana propped herself up on top of him breathing heavily. He clutched her hips gently and eyed her as she was able to slow her breathing down.

"are you alright?" he asked worried about her since she suddenly stopped.

She nodded, "I am fine," smiling leaning down closer to him once more.

"Are you sure?"

Diana stifled a laugh, "I am fine Kal do not worry for me." She changed positions and now was on her back and he was on top. "Now it is my turn to inspect," her eyes had a certain gleam in them that Kal found very dangerous but yet oddly satisfying all at once.

"Yes ma'am," he saluted.

* * *

Two hours later after both Kal and Diana showered they were getting ready for tonight's banquet. Diana still thought it strange that Sadousi was put something together like this for her especially after what just happened. Although Diana was used to politics that quickly changed from tragedy to a facade of happiness. Her mother had done it all her life and still continues to do it when she comes back from council meetings. She often thought of her mother and sisters back home on Themyscira. She was starting to realize that she missed them dearly, but she had a purpose here and a purpose that will be fulfilled with time. Though with the information she mentally noted, there might not be a lot of time.

Tonight was not just about her and a bunch of rich snobs coming to congratulate her on her position as ambassador. Tonight was about her finding out what was in between the lines of politics and terrorism. She knew very well that Sadousi was not an innocent man and he was responsible for something greater but she did not know what that was.

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror she was fixing her hair into a large bun on the top of her head. Kal was in a very nice suit that he was able to get in short notice. Diana thought it would be weird and potentially dangerous for him to show up in one of his Kryptonian suits to this banquet. He understood this as well so he complied to her orders, as he called them.

"Kal could you zip up my dress?" she called out to him as she was still working on her hair.

He walked into the bathroom immediately admiring her beauty. It wasn't the dress or her hair, but her simple interior and exterior that was beautiful. She didn't need fancy clothing or expensive jewelry to make her beautiful that was for sure.

He reached behind her and carefully zipped her gown up and wrapped his arms around her body. She smiled as she still toying with her hair.

"You are very handsy today, Kal," she said playfully.

He scoffed, "oh and what about _you_? Earlier you couldn't keep your hands off of me. Blame it on me, that is fine. I'll take all the blame," he jested.

"I guess I never learned to keep my hands to myself," Diana turned around bringing him closer to her, their bodies touching warmly.

There was a long period of intimate silence between the two until Diana sighed heavily. "Kal I cannot stay here forever."

He was confused at this statement. "I thought you wanted this?"

"I do...I did. I do not know. It is not safe here for me or for you, or for our child. I seem to keep forgetting that there are three of us now instead of just us two."

"I don't think you will forget much longer," he kissed the top of her head and hugged her close to his chest.

Diana released herself from his warm embrace and stared deeply into his eyes. She cupped his cheek, "I want to go home after I finish what is needed to be done here. I will complete my mission here and then I want to go home."

"You want to live on Themyscira for the rest of your life?" he wanted to make sure that is exactly what she wanted.

She thought hard before she answered that question. "I want to be with my mother, my sisters and with you away from chaos. I always thought that Themyscira was utter boredom, but I was wrong. It is paradise there and I'd much rather stay there."

He rubbed his chin, "so all of that talk of you wanting to help the world, you want it all to disappear?"

She shook her head, "no I do want to help the world, but this is not the way. I will finish my mission here that is for certain. I do not know how long it will take, but I will finish." She paused for a long while. "I can build an embassy in the states and work from there to deal with crisis's in the world."

Kal liked the idea of that and inside he felt so much better about Diana wanting to leave. To be truthfully honest he did not like this place especially with everything going on, but he also wanted what she thought was best. At the time she thought this was the best idea and so he followed her. He would follow her wherever she went.

"All this time I thought I needed to be in the presence of misery and despair to get the full impact of what is going in the world, but I have come to the realization that is not glamorous. The world's hate and deceitfulness is not pleasant and I do not want to be in the midst of it especially right now. I need to start thinking realistically and this is not realism. It is a lie and I've never been one for politics, but I suppose it comes with the job," she shrugged.

Kal smiled hugging her tightly once more. "I will follow which ever path you may choose Diana. And if you ask me, Themyscira and the American Embassy sounds like a really good idea right about now."

Diana laughed, "I didn't ask you though," she left the bathroom and put on her heels ready to leave for her celebratory banquet. She held out her arm, "shall we go show our faces at this banquet?"

He hooked arms with her and they both left the room heading for the elevators. The guards started following them and Diana looked back at them rolling her eyes.

She put her hand up, "don't follow me," she asked curtly. Kal couldn't help but laugh once the elevator door closed. At times Diana could be funny even without trying to be.

* * *

Upon arriving to the Grand Hall as Sadousi called it Diana and Kal were greeted at the door with warm smiles and welcomes. They both took them graciously. When they entered the ballroom they both scanned the people within the room. Kal especially was looking around at all of the guests. He was able to spot Sadousi and possibly the Turkish prime minister talking amongst themselves in a remote area of the room.

"There's the Turkish prime minister," Kal whispered on only a level Diana could hear.

She nodded her head and still hooked to the arm with Kal, headed over to the two men. She wanted to get this night over with but a deep feeling inside of her told her that something was not right. Somehow she knew Kal thought the same as her. Tonight she was the ultimate diplomat and kept herself in check.

Coming up to Sadousi she put on a bright smile as she approached him. "Prime Minister Sadousi, this is fabulous. Thank you for setting this up for me."

Sadousi smiled and hugged Diana briefly kissing her cheek. "Ambassador, I was looking for you earlier. This is the Turkish prime minister," he gestured to the tall fair skinned man in front of her.

"Madam Ambassador. An honor to meet you," he kissed the backside of her hand. Inwardly Diana cringed and could tell that Kal was not pleased about this.

This is where it begins.

**AN: sorry this chapter is kind of short but I have a lot of school work that needs to be done! I shall update my other story very soon. Enjoy! :)**


	27. Chapter 27

**AN:...sorry for leaving for so long. I shall update my other story very soon! I have to get through some exams first.**

Athena's War

Diana observed everyone that was around taking in her surroundings very carefully. Her eyes were brought back to the Turkish Prime Minister before her. She was kind of surprised to see him here after Sadousi said that he would not even come to Greece or she go to Turkey to discuss what terror has been unleashed in this country. Kal still standing next to her was keeping his eyes on the Greek and Turkish leaders in their little circle. He almost felt like he was a bit out of place, but he promised Diana that he would look after her no matter what happened.

"I was very shocked to hear that you were going to attend this banquet," Diana addressed the Turkish prime minister with a soft smile.

He smiled back at her gazing into her blue eyes, "Sadousi is my friend so you are my friend, ambassador," he nodded wrapping his arm around Sadousi sporting a grand grin.

Kal too, wrapped his arm around Diana's waist pulling her closer to his body mimicking their move. They both smiled and then a waiter came by with a tray of champagne flutes. Kal, Sadousi and the Turkish prime minister took a glass while Diana kindly refused.

"I'm sorry sir, but I did not catch your name," Diana said just as the Turkish leader sipped from his glass. She definitely knew what his name was of course with some digging of her own when she first came to Greece.

A sneaky smile came to him and he straightened his tie, "forgive my manners, ambassador. Sadousi should have told you _but_, my name is Mahmoud Robai," he added a slight bow at Diana.

She nodded and then casually asked Kal sweetly, "could you go find a glass of water or juice, Kal?" her eyes intensely darkened as she stared at him and he knew what that meant. She was not into calm greetings with this Robai guy so he nodded and went on a very long _hunt_ to find a drink for her.

Sadousi felt a little uncomfortable with just Robai and Diana standing in front of him, not to mention that she was looking quite intimidating and her height only made it worse as she stood at eye level with him. He cleared his throat, "shall we go to a more private setting so we may talk about more _important_ matters?" He gestured to a room down a long hallway. Robai nodded and offered his arm to Diana.

She looked at his arm and was thinking if she should decline the offer or not. She eyed the people around her and took his arm subtly. She thought it would be better to lay low and go with the flow especially with someone like him. He appeared to be very excited to hook arms with her and she almost wanted to roll her eyes but she resisted.

* * *

Finally they reached the private room and Sadousi closed the door behind them. Diana and Robai took a seat across from one another and Sadousi joined them. They were seated in a very awkward triangle of different powers. Diana did not feel intimidated by these men as she knew that her status was much higher than theirs in a different way. She seemed to notice that nobody really cared or paid much attention that she is a princess of a country belonging to the Americas.

Robai smiled staring at the ambassador, "you look very beautiful this evening, ambassador." He sipped from his champagne flute still staring at her.

She played it off like she was embarrassed at his compliment, "why thank you, sir."

"You can call me Mahmoud if you'd like," he still had that everlasting smile on his face as he spoke.

Diana was starting to feel a little awkward and she never really felt that way before. Surely Kal would know exactly where they were, she hoped. Whatever was said in this room he could hear even from afar.

Sadousi sighed loosening his eyes and taking off his jacket relaxing in the lavish chair. "So let us get down to real business, shall we?"

Robai nodded setting his glass down on a nearby table. Diana sat straight up with one leg crossed over the other waiting for someone to start this conversation. It was apparent that nobody was going to go so she started off the conversation to make things less uncomfortable for everyone.

"As you know sir.."

"Mahmoud, ambassador," he smiled.

Diana smiled weakly, "...Mahmoud, my embassy was bombed recently and I'd like to know why and who did it. I know this is rather straight to the point but I don't like to ramble on and on."

The Turkish leader nodded, "I am well aware of the bombing, ambassador. I was notified almost immediately. I know that a beautiful woman like you wouldn't say such things but I heard some speculation that you seem to believe that a Turk was involved in the bombing, is that true?"

Diana had to choose her words wisely. She wasn't expecting a statement like that, but she indeed did think one of his men was a part of the incident. "I don't know who you are getting your information from, but yes, your source is correct. The only reason I would say such a thing was because of the way the man looked in the embassy, the way he looked at _me_..."

Robai furrowed his eyebrows now feeling like he was being left out of some information Sadousi did not provide him. He didn't like to be on the receiving end of this kind of mess. "What man?"

"There was a man in my embassy that day and he looked straight at me and then...it happened. I know that he was not Greek." Diana laced her fingers together feeling the tension rising in the room.

She could tell that her words were not to Robai's liking so she continued, "I have not been in this country very long but I do know a thing or two about culture. I am technically of Greek descent myself. Now," she sighed, "since I have not been here that long I know for a fact that someone would have to be watching me since I arrived. It is unlikely that a random person would blow up an embassy and not have an ultimate goal, am I wrong?" she was staring directly at Sadousi now and he frowned at her words and tone.

"That is quite an accusation, madam," Robai said aloud rubbing his chin. "if one of my men were to bomb someone it definitely would not be your embassy. The Greeks are our friends."

Diana couldn't believe he would say something like that. The entire reason for her coming here was because Turkey was warring with Greece and Lebanon. She decided not to let his words get to her and ignored it.

There was a long silent pause in the room.

"If you don't mind me saying this, Mahmoud, but your last name, Robai, it is not Turkish, it is an Arabic last name," she added with a hint of a smile.

Robai stood up and looked down at Diana feeling rather insulted that she'd even say such a thing. He felt his blood boiling inside and he was about to say something until a knock came to the door.

Sadousi sighed, "come in."

A petite young woman opened the door slightly and eyed Diana, "madam ambassador I have a message for you."

All three looked at one another and Diana stood from the chair brushing her gown with her fingers, "excuse me," she left the room closing the door. "What is it?" she asked the woman quietly.

She handed Diana a small piece of paper and walked off briskly into the ballroom. Diana raised an eyebrow and looked at the note in her hand.

_"Diana, it took me awhile to get into contact with you and I am not sure if you will receive this or not so I shall make it short._

_I spoke with the council about what happened at your embassy two days ago and they did not seemed surprised. I was able to pry some information out of them and it turns out that the Greek prime minister and Turkish prime minister are not at war at all. They want to take over the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea and onward to the Baltic countries. I do not know why they have asked you to go over there when they willingly knew this information. _

_You and Kal are in possible danger, I suggest you leave, if you can._

_Mother."_

Diana held the note close to her chest and started breathing heavily. For some reason the council set her up, but why would they do that? They probably knew that she would take the offer, which she did. She looked at the closed doors behind her and realized that they were just playing her. This was worse than finding out all of those files about her and Kal. She felt betrayed, but at the same time, she had a one up to those scum. She now wondered if the council had sent all of those files to Sadousi in the first place, but why would they do that? She tucked the note inside of her dress and decided not to continue the tense conversation with those men.

Gradually she opened the door, "I'm sorry but something has come up. I cannot stay," she smiled and closed the door leaving them a bit dumbfounded. She quickly trotted down the hall and found Kal waiting against the wall outside of the ballroom. "Kal! We need to leave this place."

"I know, I was hearing your conversation with them and it didn't sound pretty. What was the message that woman gave you?"

Diana shook her head, "I can't say here, not now. Let us leave before they come out of that room," she grabbed his arm and they both quickly exited the ballroom leaving the building entirely.

Demitri was standing by the exit smoking a cigarette and saw Diana leaving with that man of hers. He put out the cigarette and ran down the steps.

"Leaving so soon, ambassador?" he called out.

Diana turned, "something urgent has come up. Do tell the guests I apologize for the inconvenience."

She and Kal continued walking further and further away from the Hall. Demitri raised an eyebrow and was a bit suspicious of that. "Right of course...madam ambassador. I will tell them," he muttered to himself.

* * *

They both kept walking casually and Diana spoke softly, "the message was from my mother. She said that Turkey and Greece were not at war at all. She has spoken to the council since I last spoke with her."

"How can that be?" he was just as shocked as she was.

"I don't know, but there was something odd about that message," she saw that it was not handwritten and it did not sound like something her mother would say. She pulled out the note and handed it to Kal. He started reading it over. "She never signs her name just 'mother'. Not even to me. She always signs her messages as Queen Hippolyta. That struck me as very odd."

Kal stopped walking and grabbed Diana's arm, "so what are you saying? Is this all a trap from the corrupt prime ministers we're dealing with here or is it the council?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "if I knew I'd gladly tell you, Kal. I just don't know anymore. This is all so confusing and now I have a horrible feeling that my mother is not well." Suddenly she had an idea and set her hands on his shoulders, squeezing them slightly. "do you think that my office in the embassy is untouched?"

He had no idea and why would that even matter at this moment, he thought. "Diana, I don't think it would still be there. You were on the second floor."

"We need to at least go back there and see. I left something there that might be of help to us," she smiled, "will you fly us there?"

Kal sighed, "I'll do anything for you, ambassador," he winked and scooped her up in his arms.

* * *

A few seconds later they were standing in front of the destroyed embassy. Diana looked at it and there were windows that were boarded up with wooden slats. She sighed, "okay let's go in," she picked up her gown and stepped over the tape. It was very dark inside and there were columns on the floor and some of the ceiling was missing.

Kal followed behind her and looked around, "this is just awful. I am so glad that you were not caught in this as badly as the others."

Diana continued to the staircase that was somewhat intact. "if they wanted to kill me they could have, but they didn't. whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing."

"You shouldn't say things like that Diana," he folded his arms and she looked at him with a blank stare.

"Are you coming with me or what?"

They flew up to the second floor and saw that some of the rooms were not very stable. Diana went first and pushed her office door open and although it was somewhat a wreck, it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. She went to her desk immediately and blew off the ashes of the stack of papers she had been working on that day.

Kal looked around and it was very dark inside of the office. He felt uneasy just being in this building. He could hear every creak in the floor as they stepped on it. "I don't mean to sound like a pest, but what exactly are you looking for, Diana?"

She was throwing papers on the ground completely ignoring him. She finally found what she was looking for and picked up a thick packet. "This." She held up the packet to him and he nodded pretending to know what that was. "This is the agreement between Greece the Baltic countries. They agreed not to invade each other when war was declared between Greece, Turkey and Lebanon." She smiled flipping through the pages.

"So the message is just a distraction then? That does not sound promising," his ears perked up and he heard something. He instinctively came close to Diana and wrapped his arm around her body.

"What is going on?" Diana asked now becoming more aware of her surroundings.

"shh," he put his finger over her lips and stepped away trying to listen further. He could hear a group of men chatting outside of the embassy. He heard Diana's name several times and 'ambassador' as well. "we need to leave. They know that you are here."

"who's they?" she questioned quietly.

He shook his head, "does it matter? Get your papers and let's go," he hurried her up and she held the papers close to her chest. He picked her up and they flew out of the window in her office high into the sky away from prying us. They saw a plane fly above their heads as well. Kal looked down and saw that one of the government cars was outside of the embassy and a group of seven men wearing black suits were entering the building. Luckily he suggested that they leave at that moment.

"Somebody followed us," Diana said staring at Kal and he nodded. "Sadousi and his spies. It was probably Demitri. He was always so kind to me and he even spoke to us as we were leaving."

"He must have told Sadousi and Robai then," Kal concluded. "Where do we go now? Obviously we are not very safe in this area. Actually you're not safe anywhere in this country it seems like."

Diana couldn't wrap her head around this entire situation. "I don't understand what is going on and why is this happening. Surely this kind of chaos doesn't happen in all parts of the world?" she had hope.

As they were still floating in the dark skies Diana decided to make a very irrational decision. "Take us back to Themyscira, Kal."

He looked at her as if she were crazy, "are you sure that is wise?"

"I feel something inside of me that is not right. I will not rest until I know what this uneasiness is."

Kal could tell that she was quite serious and determined, as she was about everything in her path. He wasn't going to argue with her especially right now that she was basically being hunted down by the people she worked for.

* * *

Jor and Lara had arrived on Themyscira in mid-afternoon unannounced. Donna was in the palace waiting on a report back from her mother. She had told her to go back to the palace and stay away from everybody until either she or Hippolyta returned. Donna sighed as she sat in Hippolyta's throne. This would probably be the only time she would be able to sit in it, so she took advantage of it. she had her legs draped over the armrest of the throne twirling her hair as she waited impatiently.

Antiope told Donna that she would be speaking with the Royal guard about the Bana amazons. She figured that the Bana were detained because there was no war happening just yet.

"You are not Hippolyta," Jor said aloud seeing a young girl sitting in the Amazon Queen's throne. Lara looked very confused at this and she looked a lot like Diana, but maybe a bit younger.

Donna, startled, stood from the throne straightening herself out. "Well...no I'm not. Who are you? You are not Amazonian," she scanned them as she noticed their clothing was something that she had never seen before. Then she saw that the woman looked a lot like that man that Diana was with all the time.

"Correct. We are not Amazonian," Lara said, "who are you? One of the sisters?"

Donna folded her arms, "I am a princess of Themyscira," she said proudly.

Lara and Jor exchanged very baffled looks. They had no idea what was going on here and perhaps they should be in contact with Themyscira more often.

"I thought Diana was the only princess on this island?" Jor asked still feeling very confused.

Donna was starting to feel like she never got attention whenever Diana was mentioned. "I'm Diana's cousin. My mother is Queen Hippolyta's sister."

"Two princesses, one island. How very..._interesting_," Lara added with a strange smile. "Well you're not the queen and my husband and I need to speak with Queen Hippolyta. Do you know where she is?"

"You cannot just come on this island unannounced like so. You both have not even told me where you from and who you are, how can I trust you?" Donna eyed them carefully.

Lara smiled trying not to laugh at the young girl, "aren't you adorable." She said dryly. "We have been coming here for quite some time now, young lady, but since you must know, we are from Krypton. Does that please you?" she lend her hand out as a saucy gesture.

It finally dawned on Donna that these were Kal-El's parents, royalty from Krypton. Her face flushed and she bowed her head to them.

"I...I didn't know who you were. Forgive me," Donna rubbed her arm nervously. She saw that the couple was not the least bit shocked or fazed by her embarrassment.

"Mother? Father?" Kal said as he set Diana down on the ground. He was very surprised to see them on the island especially right now. His parents turned around and greeted him warmly.

"Well this is...unexpected, what are you two doing here?" Kal asked trying not to sound rude.

Diana stood beside Kal with the papers in clutched close to her.

"We need to speak with Hippolyta about something important," Jor answered.

"We need to speak to her as well," Diana chimed in. She then noticed Donna standing a few feet behind the Els. She took a step back and made eye contact with her. As she let Kal speak with his parents she slipped away from the El circle. They began conversing in their native tongue so she let them be.

"What are you doing in the throne chamber?" Diana inquired.

Donna felt more embarrassed now, "my mother told me to wait here until Hippolyta came back from the council.

"Wait, she still isn't back yet? She has been there for a long time," Diana was beginning to worry about her mother now.

"I don't know what is going on honestly," Donna felt very lost. She just met some aliens, the Bana know of her whereabouts, her mother and aunt are gone. This all didn't sound good and now Diana appears out of the blue. "Well, um, what are _you_ doing here?"

Diana sighed, "that is what I needed to talk to my mother about. I should contact the council and see what is going on," she head for the tablet upon the wall to get ready to make a call. Donna followed behind and put a hand on Diana's forearm.

"Is everything alright? I feel like everyone coming together on this day...well, it doesn't make me feel very good."

Diana nodded, "I understand your anxiety, Donna. Why is this not working?" she kept pressing the buttons and it just would not work. What else could go wrong? She left Greece and did not leave a very nice presence there. Now of course, they know where her home is, but it would take forever to get here. She felt like walls were closing in on her as everything she did seemed to go horribly wrong.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

**AN: this has taken an entirely different turn than I originally had, but so far...it has been great :) once again sorry for not updating, I have a lot of school work this semester. Enjoy!**


	28. Chapter 28

With Blood and Sweat

Donna looked at Diana as she could tell there was a rising anxiety in this very room. She didn't understand why she and Kal would come back here and instantly she realized that there something very wrong about today. Everyone was here for a specific reason and in her heart she knew that it wasn't a good sign, not good at all.

She touched Diana's shoulder with a weary face, "maybe you should go and rest, I'm sure it was quite a journey for you to come all the back home," she smiled softly.

Diana's eyes closed as she gathered her thoughts and took a deep breath in and exhaling slowly. She too felt the same anxiety that Donna felt, but today was not the day to show it especially in front of the Els.

"I'll be fine, it was just an expression," she left Donna's side and went to Kal as he was still conversing with his parents. "Kal," she interrupted, "the tablet is not working and I need to contact the council immediately."

Kal scrunched his nose and hastily went over to the Kryptonian device set upon on the wall and began typing in several codes. He too was not able to make it work either. "I wonder why this is not working," he kept trying different methods but nothing seemed to work. Jor came to his aid and he too began messing with the contraption.

Diana set the folder down on a table nearby and began looking through all of the files within the folder. Donna stood next to Kal and his father as they tried everything to figure out what was wrong with the device and there was no luck. They were persistent though.

Lara, by herself, stared at the different scenarios going on in this throne chamber and it was bit overwhelming. She then guided her eyes to Diana who looked a bit fragile and out of mind as she was furiously looking over the papers in front of her. Making her way over she stood across from Diana observing what she was looking at. She couldn't read the files as they were not entirely in English, but she gathered it was something to do with government. Diana didn't even notice that she was standing literally right in front of her. Obviously she was stressed out, she could tell. She set her hand on Diana's hand and finally the Amazon princess gazed upward.

"You shouldn't stress yourself out too much Diana," Lara said in a soft voice. Which was quite soothing and unexpected coming from this brash El Queen.

Diana was a little taken aback by Lara's sudden 'motherly' attitude and concerned voice. "I am alright, no need to worry about me." She continued to look through the files and ignored Lara.

Lara sighed, "you are not alright and it is no coincidence that we are all here on this day," she spoke once more and this got Diana's attention.

"What do you mean by that?" Diana inquired.

"Jor and I received a message from your council today. Also we have brought a message from Krypton to share with your mother, but it seems she is either missing or has other business to attend to."

Now this really grabbed Diana's attention. She wanted to know more about what Lara was exactly talking about. She closed the folder and saw that Kal and Jor were still trying to figure out what was wrong with the device.

"It seems it will not be working today. I think we should have a private meeting right now," Diana announced to everyone in the room. It was quiet and although nobody disagreed they were still confused. Diana felt the same as they did, but she kept that to herself. She guided everyone to her room down the hallway and she closed the doors behind her. "please sit anywhere you'd like," she gestured to her bed or some chairs nearby.

Jor and Lara sat together in two chairs as Diana and Donna sat on her bed. Kal sat on an ottoman next to his parents. The room was still with tension as if a knife cut through it.

"It is pretty obvious that we all are here not by choice, but something has brought us altogether and we need to figure out why, agreed?" Diana began as the diplomat she was slowly becoming.

Lara cleared her throat, "Jor and I will go first," she announced. "Krypton has sent a message in response to the American's council that we received just last evening."

Kal looked at his mother with utter confusion and she tried not to eye him.

"The council sent a rather cryptic message to Krypton. Jor and I have read it countless times and we could not recognize if it was a threat or a mere misunderstanding."

"What did the council say to you both?" Kal asked, now a bit curious why the council would contact Krypton during this crisis.

Jor interrupted his wife, "the council suggested that we aid Turkey and Greece."

Diana and Kal shared a look and then waited for the El king to continue.

"They wish us to aid them in order to get rid of Lebanon and have control over the Mediterranean Sea," he sighed. "Lara and I did not know what to do and stared at the message for a few hours debating if we should discuss this matter with you and Kal," he eyed Diana, "but we did not have direct contact with you, until now..."

Pure silence.

"Those idiots," Diana shook her head and started to laugh nervously. "the council is not only foolish to listen to those power hungry mongrels, but why would they contact Krypton?"

Kal chimed in, "Krypton is a war planet as the council knows. We hold special technology that is far advanced compared to Earth. We could wipe out an entire planet if we wanted to. Yet we don't. krypton may be a war-like planet, but we are peaceful."

Lara nodded, "exactly my thoughts, Kal-El. Anyway, Jor and I decided that we needed to discuss this matter with the ambassador of Greece, which would be you, Diana. We received a response just earlier today and that is why we are here." She pulled out a small electronic card that resembled an old fashion telegram and handed it to Diana.

Awaiting for Diana's response, everyone eyed her as she read the message and then they saw her eyes change from confusion to anger and frustration.

"what is it Diana?" Kal asked eagerly.

She set down the telegram on top of her folder and frowned, "if Krypton does not comply then Themyscira is in danger of going to war with the Greeks and Turks."

Lara and Jor's heads sunk in disappointment knowing that Diana would definitely disapprove. They did not wish to go to war with anyone especially if Themyscira was to be put in danger.

"Have you responded to this?" Diana asked the Els.

"No Diana we have not and that is why we wished to speak to you and Hippolyta immediately. Although, that seems out of the question at the moment," Jor said.

Donna was so new to this world and all these new people she was meeting she almost felt like she should have stayed in seclusion.

"What do you suggest we do Diana?" Donna asked nervously. "Themyscira is my new home and I do not wish to see it perish."

Diana shook her head and stood up from her bed and began pacing the room, still wearing her clothing that she wore at the banquet. "Those clever bastards. They are using everything I have to go against me. I cannot side with Greece or Turkey, even if the council wants me to. I cannot side with the council because I do not agree and I cannot side with Krypton. They know too much about Kal and I."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Donna now even more puzzled. "They are clearly using the Kryptonians as a crutch, knowing that they are a powerful people. Themyscirans are powerful as well and if they want a fight, we shall give it to them."

Donna's spirit was exhilarating and inspiring but Diana had a better plan. Her first plan was to find her mother and see what was going on within the council. It was obvious that the council is very corrupt and their claim to world peace is a facade to anyone who lives in a peaceful society such as Themyscira. The world is no paradise, Diana has come to find out.

"Your courage is admirable Donna, but I do not wish to war with anybody. I am passed the war-like thinking and we shall use a different strategy to win this emanating war. I do not wish to shed blood with my sisters and my brothers."

Everyone stared at Diana for this master plan. Kal looked to his parents who seemed anxious, eager and worried all at once. Something he hadn't seen his parents' express before ever in his life. Why was this issue so different? Could it be because of him and Diana?

"So, what is the plan, princess?" Kal asked.

Diana folded her arms as she stood, "we play dirty as my mother says that it is the last resort in a war, but it is useful nonetheless. Donna go find Antiope and round up the royal guard and bring them to the palace."

Donna nodded and immediately left the room off on her mission.

* * *

An hour after the meeting Diana spent most of her time consulting her trusted friend, Phillipus, in finding her mother. She asked her and two other royal amazonian guards to go to America and see what was taking her mother so long to return to Themyscira. Donna was busy talking with her mother outside of the palace. Diana suggested that all the students on the island to be returned to their rightful homes wherever they may be. It was no longer safe for them to continue their studies. Diana was saddened by the program closing down, but in times like this, it is the right thing to do. She knew that would take about two days to get everyone to leave so she told her guards to begin the process immediately and to not let anyone know about this situation at hand.

Back in the throne chamber was Diana and the El family. This wasn't an entirely happy moment for everybody to be here, but it was nice in a way to have everybody gathered there on the island for once. It would probably be better if a possible war was not in question.

Lara and Jor stood next to one another and Kal stood next to Diana. They were all gathered together in a small circle.

"I'm sure it has been quite a day for you both," Jor said to the two young ones next to him and Lara.

Diana nodded, "indeed it has. Kal and I left Greece after an interesting meeting I had with the Greek and Turkish prime ministers. They will, if they haven't already, figured out that we have fled back to Themyscira," she sighed and turned to see a few male amazons talking outside the palace amongst themselves. She raised an eyebrow and went over to the two men conversing.

"You two," Diana said sternly. Both men looked at her with wide eyes.

"Yes ma'am!" they both said in unison bowing their heads slightly.

"I am going to give you both a mission and I want to see it carried out, understood?" Diana told them and they nodded their heads profusely. "I want you both to gather all of your brothers and secure the borders of Themyscira. I want every inch covered and then one of you report back to me when the deed is done. Could you do that for me?"

Both of the male amazons looked at one another and back at the princess, "of course, princess. We'll get right on that," they trotted off an began telling their fellow brothers the plan.

Diana went back inside of the throne room and there were the Els, astonished at her request.

"They should do something useful," Diana expressed with seriousness. "We...we are all a team, us amazons..." she put a hand to her head feeling a little light headed and began to sway from right to left.

Kal ran towards her and held her body in his grasp, "I think...that's enough strategy planning for today, don't you think?"

"I'm fine Kal," Diana brushed him off as she gathered herself.

"You are obviously not fine, I shall take you to your room," he had his arms out and she refused.

Lara stepped in, not wishing to cause anymore chaos in this place, "I will take her."

Kal looked at his mother a little taken aback at her offer, "are you sure mother?"

Lara nodded and grabbed Diana's arm and although Diana did not refuse the offer she was a bit skeptical of the El woman's courteous suggestion. She kindly escorted the princess to her room.

This left Kal and his father both confused and yet amazed at the same time. Kal folded his arms as they both watched his mother lead Diana back to her bedroom.

"Did you put something in her food?" Kal posed.

Jor shook his head, "Son, I think she not only feels awful about what is going to happen with Krypton, Themyscira and the intimate world. Besides, your mother has a soft side and the military has masked that for quite some time."

Kal nodded, "well sorry if this seems insensitive, but that was very odd."

* * *

Back in Diana's bedroom Lara shut the door as Diana lay on her bed, with her hand over her chest. Her eyes shifted over to Lara who was casually going through her dresser looking for something.

"What are you doing?" Diana inquired.

Lara kept looking through Diana's wardrobe and pulled out a mid-length white gown, "you need to get out of that gown, do you not?" she draped the dress over the side of Diana's bed.

Diana sat up and picked up the gown. She headed over behind a screen to slip out of her banquet gown and into the gown that Lara had picked for her to wear. She looked out and saw Lara had her back turned from the screen. Raising an eyebrow she slowly walked back to her bed and propped herself against her headboard.

"Why are you being so kind to me?" Diana wondered.

Lara, not at all surprised at this question, answered, "it is clear that you've had a long day. You and Kal both. As long as I am here I can offer to help you. I am not your mother and we both know that."

Diana was surprised at her response and ran her fingers through her hair softly, "well, thank you I suppose."

After a few silent moments passed Lara then asked the question she had been wanting to ask since she got here. "How is the baby?"

"I hate to say this, but I haven't really thought much about it with everything going on, but I presume everything is alright."

"You should really take better care of yourself Diana," Lara expressed genuinely.

Diana nodded, "I should. It is rather hard considering what is going on."

Lara nodded, "understandable. Well I will leave you alone for the evening. Shall I have you brought anything?"

"No thank you," Diana watched Lara leave and she yawned deeply slowly closing her eyes. As if she needed anything else strange happening in her life. Her mind and body wanted to shut off, but at the same time she did not want to go to sleep because she might miss something. A few minutes later she had fallen asleep, not a deep sleep but sleep nonetheless.

Kal had shown his parents to a room close by to Diana's just in case something had happened. It had been four hours since Diana had fallen asleep and there was no sign of Phillipus or Hippolyta in the last few hours. Which did make him nervous, but he tried his best not to let his emotions cloud his mind. He needed to be strong for Diana as he wasn't sure she could take this kind of stress by herself.

He crept into her bedroom closing the door as quietly as possible. He saw that she was sound asleep since he last checked on her about two hours ago. He didn't wish to disturb her so he pulled up the chair close to her bed and sat down watching the darkness of the room take over. He too was actually tired, but didn't wish to sleep in case something might happen. His eyes couldn't take it anymore and he drifted off gently placing his hand on Diana's hand as she slept.

* * *

Phillipus had gone to the council at Diana's request and found the place to be a ghost town. She didn't understand what the hell was going on and she needed to find Hippolyta. Diana had briefed her about what was going on and the Queen should be there right at Diana's to aid in this disaster.

"Everyone spread out. Find the Queen. Turn this place upside down if you must," Phillipus told the royal guard and she walked forward to the council's main meeting room. Opening the doors she saw two of the councilmen sitting in their chairs.

"You two," she pointed her sword to the guilty men. "where is Queen Hippolyta? She has yet to return to Themyscira."

The two men looked very confused as to why one of the amazon women was pointing a rather sharp sword towards them.

"We...we don't know she left hours ago. We did not talk with her long."

"You mean to tell me that she just...left?" she asked not believing a word they were saying. "Talk to me!" she demanded.

One of the men spoke for the both of them, "Alright, alright. She left with a woman. It appeared to be a woman she knew, but we do not know where she went. We're just interns."

Phillipus lowered her sword, but did not sheath it. "What did this woman look like?"

"She...she had long hair –dark too. Oh and she had violet eyes."

She knew exactly who this woman was but what did she want with Hippolyta and why now? This was all a big mystery and she couldn't figure it out.

A man in the shadows appeared and said with a stern voice, "are you looking for Queen Hippolyta?"

**AN: sorry for not updating a lot! school gets in the way sometimes. Someone new is being added to the story ;) enjoy.**


	29. Chapter 29

**AN: really sorry for not updating in ages. This semester of school had me super busy and took up 100% of my time! Now that exams are over I have a lengthy break and will update more frequently! I will update my other story soon as well. It's been too long and also sorry this is short, but I needed to get something out there! Enjoy everyone :)**

The Witch

Phillipus looked at the dark figure emerge from the darkness of the large council meeting room. He looked quite dapper and had raven hair and blue eyes. He being a man she was very wary being around him so she backed up still sword in hand.

"Who are you and how do you know Queen Hippolyta?" she pointed her sword at his chest and the man didn't seem the least bit startled.

"Why don't you put your weapon down and I will tell you?" he suggested with a gentle hand against the sword's sharpest point.

Phillipus lowered her sword carefully but did not sheath it.

He sighed in relief and gestured that she walk with him. Phillipus saw some Amazons were curious and wanted to ask questions but she waved them off to follow them afar. They walked together down a long hallway in silence for a few moments.

"You would like to know where your Queen is right?" he asked the dark skinned woman.

Phillipus looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Is this guy stupid, she wondered? Of course she wants to know where Hippolyta is, but she wasn't rude in her response after all he could be the key to finding out what is going on.

"Yes," she answered in a lowered voice.

He nodded, "well I don't really know where she is so let's start off with that. But I will begin to say that I have been working with the council for quite some time now, just to ease your concerns." He half smiled.

Phillipus cut straight to the point, "you mentioned a woman with violet eyes, did you not?"

"Yes I did, I was definitely not mistaken about her eyes. Your Queen...Hippolyta is that right?" he looked to her for confirmation and continued, "she claimed to know this woman and willingly went with her, wherever that might be."

Whispers among the amazon sisters were heard behind the mystery man and the General. Phillipus looked up at the man and stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"Are you sure she went with her willingly?" she wanted to make sure she was hearing this correctly.

He nodded, "yes I'm quite sure. I saw them leave the council together and do not know where they went. The council didn't seem to think it was very odd. People come in and out of this place all the time." He cleared his throat. "Could you let go of my arm please?"

She let go and they continued walking. "If you don't know where she is then why are my amazons and I following you in a never-ending hallway?"

Suddenly he stopped in front of a door and typed in a code and allowed the women to go first, "you'll see, I promise I won't be wasting your time," he gestured politely for the women to enter.

As the amazons entered the room and he followed, a sight of computer monitors were before them. The room was deserted and looked like it needed special clearance to enter. Phillipus looked at all the technology in front of her and could only admire it and at the same time she didn't want anything to do with it. Her civilization was better off without all of this technology anyhow.

"I will be able to show you some security footage of the building of who was able to enter, aka your purple eyed friend," he went to one computer and pulled up the footage of a few hours ago. He played it at a faster speed and Phillipus watched all the screens looking for who she thought had Hippolyta. Suddenly a woman in front of the building caught her eye and she didn't like the looks of who she saw.

"Could you pause this contraption?" she asked.

He paused the video and there was a clear picture of a woman in front of the building holding up a badge of some sort.

"That is her," Phillipus pointed to the woman. "That is an old foe of Hippolyta. I am surprised to see her come all this way." She was very perplexed as to why Circe would do this and right now.

"Hmm, that is very interesting. I've never seen her come into this building before," he looked at the footage again and didn't recognize her.

Phillipus laughed nervously, "that is because she is thousands of years old. She's been hiding and somehow she has come out from hiding," she sighed and began to leave with her troops. "Thank you again for helping me and my sisters. I need to go back to Themyscira to report this to the princess at once. What do I call you?" she inquired.

He held out his hand, "my name is Bruce Wayne. I own this facility. If you need any more help do not hesitate to ask," he smiled as they shook hands.

"Right of course, thank you Mr. Wayne. We shall be in touch, let us go sisters," they left the room and decided to head back home immediately.

* * *

Diana woke up abruptly and saw it was almost dawn. She looked over at Kal who was asleep in the chair next to her bed. She quietly got up from her bed and left her room leaving the door slightly ajar. Walking barefoot down the hallway quickly she went outside of the palace. It seems time has escaped her and she didn't know what was going on outside of the palace walls. Although she suspected nothing was happening, she didn't feel like anything was going right at this time. On the bottom of the steps of the palace she saw Donna reading a book quietly. Diana approached her with a wary expression about her face.

"Donna, has anything happened while I was asleep?"

Donna slightly startled closed her book and stood up clearing her throat, "no Diana nothing has happened at least nothing I am aware of!"

Diana looked around to see her sisters walking about going about their daily duties. "What about those male amazons I sent out hours ago to build a wall around the island?"

Donna set her hand on Diana's shoulder reassuring her everything was fine, "they came to report to me when I told them that you were asleep, you don't have to worry about that. They've been standing on guard ever since," she smiled softly.

Diana sighed in relief. She hadn't heard word of her mother either which worried her deeply. She wondered what could have happened to her. "I...I need to get ready," she turned around to head back to her bedroom.

Donna followed behind the scurrying princess and had to jog a bit to catch up to her, "wait, Diana! Get ready for what? I think you need to relax for a bit."

"At a time like this? There is so much chaos in this world Donna, chaos that will soon turn into disaster and I need to be ready for it at all times." She continued to make her journey to her room once again.

Donna was worrying about her Aunt Hippolyta who had yet to return and she probably didn't feel the way that Diana did. After all it seemed there was no time for relaxation, but she needed someone to talk to and Kal is great, but perhaps another woman is what she needs right now.

"Diana," she called out again and Diana stopped turning her head over her shoulder. "If you need someone to talk to about anything I'm always here if you need me."

Diana smiled, "thank you Donna I will keep that in mind. If Phillipus comes back please alert me immediately."

Donna nodded and she watched her cousin disappear back into her bedroom.

* * *

Well into the morning Phillipus arrived with her amazon troops and stormed into the palace in search of Diana and the Els. Luckily for her they were all in the throne room looking very anxious.

"Princess, I have found out what has happened to the Queen," Phillipus announced.

Diana looked at her and at the sisters behind her with furrowed brows. "So I take it you didn't find her, what happened? I asked you to find her."

Phillipus sighed, "She is with someone that leaves no traces, princess."

Kal stood next to Diana and looked equally as worried and confused as she did.

"Well?" Kal said finally.

"Queen Hippolyta is with Circe. I don't know anything more than that, I apologize. The owner of the council came to our aid and was able to pull up some video of Circe entering the building."

Diana nodded her head, "the owner you say? I wasn't aware there was an owner of the council."

"Well to my knowledge he only owns the building. He was a...kind man," she added.

"Does he know about Circe and what she is capable of?" Diana asked hopeful that she would know the answer to that.

The General shook her head, "sorry princess, he didn't seem to know who she was and I believe him. He also said that if we need any more information he'd be glad to assist."

"Thank you, General, you can leave now. I need to discuss some things with the Els right now."

Phillipus and the other amazons left the throne room. Phillipus thought it odd that Diana would just dismiss them so easily knowing who her mother was with at the moment. Usually the Queen would instruct some sort of regime plan and go from there, but Phillipus remembered that Diana was not Hippolyta and had never truly been in charge of an entire nation before by herself.

Diana turned to the Els and they looked puzzled but ready for any commands that were given. She had the realization that since her mother was absent that she was temporarily Queen and was able to give any commands as she see fit. She had to wonder why her mother was with Circe and did they leave together without force?

Realizing that she had released Phillipus too early she told one of her guards to fetch the General once more.

"Okay so," Diana began and took in a deep breath, "you all do not know who Circe is, but she is a witch and cannot be trusted. I don't have time to go into detail about the woman, but the point is that my mother is with her and we have no way of tracking her since the witch is made of pure magic."

Jor spoke up to ease some of the uneasiness in the room, "perhaps we can help track down Circe for you Diana."

Lara nodded, "we have the available technology and you would have to know something about this 'witch' so we can have a starting point, right?"

Diana nodded, "yes but with everything happening all at once I do not think it is just a strange unfortunate coincidence that she has _suddenly_ appeared."

Phillipus returned to the throne room alone this time and had her hands behind her back, "you asked for me princess?"

"Ah, yes. I need you to write a full report of what you saw and who you spoke to while you were at the council, please. Oh and include the owner as well, I want it very detailed."

The General smiled and nodded, "of course, princess I will gather everyone and write the report immediately. We should be done with it within an hour."

Diana nodded, "thank you very much." Now she returned to the Els and all eyes were on her. "So," she was starting to feel a bit nervous with all this pressure on her suddenly.

"Take your time, Diana," Kal assured her with a steady hand on her shoulder.

"Right," she nodded, "if I gave you all a photo of Circe would you be able to track her every move in the last few days or even hours with your technology?"

Lara and Jor looked at each other and had a telepathic conversation before answering the princess's question.

"Yes, we should be able to but I must say that the use of our technology and what you're asking us to do is technically illegal according to Kryptonian law," Jor said.

"But we are not on Krypton, right?" Kal interjected. His parents nodded and thought over what he had said. He wasn't correct but he wasn't wrong either.

"Okay we will go to our ship and operate in there since all of our technology is inside the ship," Jor said and both left to go to their ship immediately.

This left Kal and Diana together alone in the throne room. They hadn't had a single moment to themselves since the start of her ambassador role and now all of this.

"I'm sorry all of this has been put on your shoulders, Diana. You don't deserve this especially right now," Kal said in a solemn voice.

Diana shrugged her shoulders and folded her arms, "amazons are built for battle and to lead. My role is just as important as everyone else's and yours as well. You are an honorary amazon today, Kal," she smiled. "I don't want anything else to go wrong. A few months ago everything was fine and we were able to do anything we wanted and now..._this_."

Kal took her hands into his, "everything happens for a reason and I will be here to help you through it all, even if it means war. Once this is all over, whenever that might be, maybe we can for once have a normal life," he joked.

Diana laughed lightly, "this _is_ my life, Kal."

"No, this is _our_ life. You're not alone and don't try to push me away like you do with everyone else. You don't have to do anything by yourself if you choose not to. As far as I know, whatever you choose to do I'll follow you. All three of us need to make a life of our own, but we can't do that if you push others away and I'm not one to push away."

"Who says I am pushing you away? You are obviously here, are you not?" Diana, confused at his words.

"You wanted to change the world and so you became an ambassador and I followed you. You wanted to leave Themyscira and I followed you. We are here now and I again followed you. I will follow you wherever the path may choose for us."

Diana shook her head, "you are making it sound like I am some kind of queen and you're my lackey."

Kal laughed, "definitely not that unless you want me to be," he winked as he jested. For that he received a punch in the arm. "We shall work on your behavior then too."

"Very funny, Kal. I wish all of this didn't have to happen right now. I want all of the madness to end."

"And it will especially with you leading the way, which I might add, you have changed quite a bit since I first met you," he remarked.

Diana smiled shaking her head. Although he had a point, she had felt different in every way possible. She seems to keep forgetting that they are having a child together but who could focus on that when an emanate war is on the fence? Nobody.

"so many changes in such a short amount of time, indeed," Diana believed her words to be true. "I wonder where my mother could be?"

Kal sighed, "we will find her don't worry."

"I hope so."


	30. Chapter 30

The Game

Hippolyta remembered this place very well and why she vowed never to step foot in it unless there was an absolutely necessary reason. Her vision is blinded, but she knew this place from the smell and eerie sounds that surrounded her blinded eyes. Off in the distance of the room she was in, she heard footsteps, quiet steps but very audible to her hypersensitive senses. The cloth was removed from her eyes and there she saw who was in front of her, a woman that she did not wish to lay eyes on for centuries to come. She thought she had seen the last of her, but apparently not because there she was standing right in front of her.

"Circe," Hippolyta groaned lowly. She sat in a chair made of stone, but was not bound by ropes or any other obstacles, except one –magic.

Circe grinned and her purple irises sparkled in the light as she made her way around the seated Queen at her dispose. "Hippolyta, my old friend, so good to see you again!" she crouched down in front of Hippolyta, showing off her ever-so-creepy smile of hers. "I thought I'd never see you again, since well you know...the big man upstairs banished me from earth and all," she smirked.

Hippolyta resisted to spit in her face and roll her eyes at her irresistible devilish charm. "What do you want, witch?"

The purple-eyed witch let out a soft laugh and stood from her crouched position. She began walking around the lavish room. "Well, it has come to my attention that there seems to be some trouble in paradise. You know, with your daughter's new boyfriend and what not. She seems to have a good head on her shoulders for now, but I sense a great..." she turned her head over her shoulder to meet the queen's eyes, "..._fear_," she hissed.

"You never have any interest in Diana in the past, Circe. Why bring me here to your domain to pay your hellish games?" Hippolyta tried to keep herself in check around this witch. She was tricky and to be honest she did not even remember speaking to Circe or how she even got here in the first place. A tricky witch, she is indeed.

Circe came closer to Hippolyta and squeezed her cheeks with her fingers and lifted her chin to meet with her sparkling eyes. Grinning she said sensually, "your daughter is magnificent. She is skilled in many trades and apparently very skilled in meeting with dignitaries across the globe, right?" she lifted her eyebrows for emphasis.

The Amazon Queen shook her head to lose her grasp on the witch's hold. "You're a sick woman."

Circe sat down on an invisible chair and crossed her legs, "and you're rude," she cleared her throat delicately. "As I was saying before you rudely interrupted, Hippolyta, it has come to my attention that she is not very capable of handling certain situations. An ambassador in Greece, a princess on Themyscira, a disobeying daughter, and now a soon to be mother. That's a lot to handle at once don't you think so?"

Hippolyta felt her heart sink as Circe kept babbling on about Diana. She didn't want anything to happen to her and she had no idea what was going on back home, but she felt it could not be good especially if she is talking to Circe. Nothing good ever comes of that.

"So what exactly do you want?"

"tsk, tsk, tsk, my dear Hippolyta, why on earth would you think I would want something, particularly from _you_?" Circe smiled lifting an eyebrow.

"I do not have time for your games, Circe. Why have you brought me here and why the sudden interest in Diana? She has done nothing to you."

The witch clapped and stood up pacing slowly around the room once more keeping her eyes focused on the queen before her. "Oh let's just say that humans are like a fun game of chess, except you know, my chess is better because I like to bend the rules a bit," she gestured the sign 'little' with her fingers and smiled.

"There's just a few unstable components in my game of chess though. You see, the Queen is the most powerful and ultimately can call 'checkmate', but in my game, it is the King piece, you see, because men are less stable than us women, am I right?" she looked to Hippolyta and saw daggers in her 'friend's' eyes. "Good, glad you agree. Anyway, my pawns in this game have a little bit more leeway than they normally do in chess. There are eight pawns in normal chess and well would you look at that, I have exactly eight and what an important role they will all play!"

Hippolyta was trying to look for a way out and tried to break free of the magical hold she was in as Circe kept talking about her ludicrous chess game.

"But you see, there are a pair of rooks, knights and bishops as well. You think I forgot didn't you?" she winked, more for herself as she turned she saw Hippolyta was not listening. "I think you ought to listen to what I have to say, my dear friend," she frowned and Hippolyta turned towards her with a saucy smile.

"I'm all ears, and then I'll do some talking, if you don't mind?" she added.

Circe sighed, "very well. As I was saying...oh yes, the other players of the game! You see there are two countries, which are not doing so well, take a guess which pieces they are?"

Hippolyta didn't want to play this game anymore, but if she didn't then she might never get out of here. "I don't know, the knights?" she wanted to bite her tongue for this ridiculous charade.

"Wrong!" Circe yelled, "they were bishops. Nice guess though, I'll get to those in a moment. So about the bishops, they're very powerful and one my pawns, has crossed their paths, making my game oh so difficult for me to control," she sighed deeply as if she were actually somewhat disappointed.

Hippolyta was thinking this entire time that she knew Circe was mad, but she didn't really come to the realization that this woman was literally insane. So in the moment, she decided to play her little game of chess to see what more she could get out of her. Realizing that Diana, Kal, his parents, and remainders on the island were the pawns, she got the hint that the bishops were Greece and Turkey, but what of the others, she wondered?

"So, what about the rooks? What role do they play?" she inquired.

Circe smiled widely and put her hands on her hips. "Wouldn't you like to know?" she laughed.

"I would actually. I am becoming more intrigued over your game and want to know how it all plays out." Hippolyta cringed inside as she spoke those vile words.

"Well, lucky for you I was just getting to the rooks," she sat down running her fingers through her hair and began once again. "Rooks are an important key to chess and sometimes even more so than the Queen herself, but playing with rooks requires a lot of strategy and if you're lucky you can snatch them right up," she snapped her fingers in excitement.

This woman is truly crazy, Hippolyta. "So in your game, who are the rooks?"

"ah, well, that's for you to figure out my friend. Now onto the knights. They too can play an imperative role in the game, but not as important as a rook. Unfortunately my knights are already out of the game so I have little to play with."

"You might need to explain more in detail what exactly type of game you're playing here, if you don't mind?" Hippolyta said in her sweetest voice possible to the witch.

Circe smiled and sat down in front of Hippolyta and conjured up a chess board that floated in between them as if it were on a table. She smiled, "you get the first move, Hippolyta. Of course, I'm not stupid enough to release you from my grasp so you'll have to tell me which pieces to move."

Hippolyta was not very interested in playing this game and was even more confused that they were in fact playing a real game of chess. It was clear as day, but with Circe, nothing is ever this simple. She felt like she was playing with Hades himself, but what would happen if she didn't comply?

The witch smirked and her eyes sparkled, "choose wisely, my dear."

* * *

"Here is the report you asked for, princess," Phillipus handed the written report to Diana and she took it reading over it carefully to make sure everything was in order.

Diana nodded, "thank you and that should be all for now."

Phillipus left and Diana set the report on a table in the throne room next to all of the other important Themysciran documents. She sighed thinking over what she was going to do. Right now it was a very anxious waiting game and at this moment she couldn't do anything really and that was really getting to her at the moment.

Kal came into the throne room as he was reporting back to Diana what his parents found on Circe. He shrugged, "sorry they have not found anything of the woman's whereabouts."

Diana folded her arms, "I was not expecting them to find anything. She is made of magic after all. She could be anywhere for all we know."

"We're all trying to help as much as we can, but it seems we're a bit stuck and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense."

She agreed, "you're right Kal, there is something missing, but what could it be?" she furrowed her eyebrows gradually as she was thinking deeply.

Kal suddenly had an idea and immediately asked Diana for a piece of paper and a pen. She, confused, handed him the necessities he asked for and Kal stood over the table writing something down. She peered over him to see what exactly he was writing, but it only made her more confused.

After a few moments he finished and held it up for both of them to look at. It wasn't words at all, but a very detailed diagram. Diana looked over it trying to figure out what he had drawn, but nothing came to mind.

"What is this?" she asked.

"This is our life as of now," he said nodding his head. He pointed to one of the squares in the far left upper corner of the paper. "You see this is you and me, underneath us is your mother. To the far right are my parents and underneath are Donna and her mother, Antiope. At the bottom of the right side of the page, there are your male and female amazons alike. Over to the left bottom corner is Greece and Turkey, political figures that we had met earlier. In the center of the paper we have Themyscira, Krypton and the American council."

As he was saying all of these things, Diana still had no idea why he would draw something that they both already knew to be true and why was it in that particular order?

She sighed, "I'm sorry but I am not following you, Kal."

He figured that she might say that. "this is a strategy used by Kryptonian military and something my mother taught me as well when she was in charge of the military at one point. It is more than just a simple drawing. These are all of the players in this..whatever this is, a _situation_ if you will, but there seems to be one missing component."

Diana finally caught on, "Circe."

"right, so where does she fit into this diagram? She doesn't fit in at all, so we need to find out why she is somewhere in this chaos because if she is what you say she is, then she might have a bigger role to all of this than we may think."

She nodded, "you are quite brilliant Kal. But it still doesn't explain why she would basically kidnap my mother and at the council no less."

"Does she have some kind of vendetta against your mother?" he inquired.

"I believe she has always hated my mother for no good reason, she even dislikes me as well even though I have never seen her with my own two eyes."

Kal frowned and then reached for the inked pen again and started drawing more on the paper. Diana folded her arms watching in awe as he began to concoct this thinking strategy. In the middle he also put Circe next to the other players of the game. He then began to connect all of the players with lines and they are connected to the middle of the paper.

"You see that all of the lines point to the center of the page?"

She nodded her head and waited for his grand explanation.

"The four major players, Circe, Themyscira, the council and Krypton, all have significance in this soon to be disaster. Someone or something is wrong with one of these players and in process of elimination, which one does not belong, take a guess?" he smirked.

She rolled her eyes and pointed to Circe's name on the paper. "So are you saying that everything that has gone wrong, is to be blamed on her?"

He nodded, "yes, it is the only logical explanation. It is quite unlikely that the embassy in Greece would be blown up and then that corruption between the political leaders of Greece and Turkey. It has to be her, all of her."

Diana shook her head, "no that does not make any sense. They had files on me and you both. They know too much about us and the only way to get that kind of information is from the council and they wouldn't just hand out that kind of information to just anybody especially about royalty."

"Or _would_ they if there was another entity in the game?"

Diana met eyes with him and she felt more angry but determined now that this was laid out in front of her. It was so simple and why couldn't she see it before? This was all a huge game and it was Circe's game. Her mother had warned her about the powers of Circe, but she had never witnessed what the witch was actually capable of. She stormed out of the room and went to find Phillipus, who wasn't very far.

"Phillipus, I need you to call all of the male amazons away from the borders of the island immediately."

The general was definitely confused now. "Is there any reason for this, princess?"

She held up her hand, "I cannot explain now, just trust me and do as I say. Where is Antiope and Donna?"

"Last I heard they were speaking with Artemis, head of the Bana tribe. I do not believe it to be wise for you to go in that way, princess."

"We are playing with fire here. I need everybody on the island to cooperate or this will not end well for anybody." She started heading towards the Bana side of the island and Phillipus told a few guards to tread behind Diana.

* * *

Minutes later she arrived at the guarded Bana female guards were surprised to see the princess here, but didn't utter a word at her presence.

"I need you to open the gates, please," Diana insisted.

The amazons looked at each other then back at the princess. "Is there a reason for this? As Queen Hippolyta come back to Themyscira?"

"I am Queen right now as my mother is absent from her throne and I say to open the gate. I need to discuss some business with the Bana."

The two guards stood for a silent moment, a bit in shock at Diana's request but they unlatched the gate and both opened the large gate doors. Diana went inside with her slew of guards behind her. The Bana amazons stared at the princess as she casually made it through the village. She received a lot of glares and whispers as she passed through.

Finally making it to the palace of the Bana she saw Donna and Antiope in front of the palace talking with Artemis, who was most surprised and somewhat angry to see the princess enter her domain.

Artemis stepped down from the palace steps and held up her hands to her guards that were more than eager to assist in retaining the trespasser.

"What brings you to the Bana, Diana?" Artemis smiled.

Diana looked around at all the eyes that were on her. Some spat on the ground and others just grimaced at the sight of her.

"I have come to discuss business in a time of need, Artemis. Would you be willing to speak with me?" Diana said calmly as she was taking in all of the rude comments and stares surrounding her. Her guards behind her were watching every move of the Bana during this tense moment.

Artemis began laughing, "in a time of need! By the Gods, I did not know you were such a jester, Diana. It is enough to even show your face here after what your mother did to us."

Diana held her tongue and sighed, "I am not here to discuss my mother's past actions, Artemis. I am simply here for business."

Artemis smiled, "whatever your crisis is, it is of no concern to me. Now go before I have to make you go," she turned and started walking away from Diana simply brushing her off as a pest.

"I'm not going anywhere until we have discussed what needs to be discussed. I am not leaving without speaking to you," Diana announced loudly, embarrassing the Bana wannabe Queen.

The redhead turned around with a grimace and placed her hands upon her narrow hips. "Is that so, _princess_?"

Diana cleared her throat, "and for all of you listening to this! Now you will hear what I have to say as your _queen_ refuses to speak with me! A dangerous entity has come back into the lives of the amazons and our whole race will have a rude awakening if _she_ does not listen to what I have to say!" she spoke clearly and loudly to everyone around in the palace square.

* * *

Kal came out of the palace a little too late as he didn't know where Diana had gone to. His parents emerged from their ship and were about to give some news he could tell, but this wasn't the time.

"Kal I think we may have found something to Diana's liking," Jor said.

He brushed his father off walking passed him, "not now. I have to find Diana." He stormed off to speak with Phillipus who was at the front of the palace entrance.

"Did he lose her?" Lara questioned.

"She's hard to keep track of, even for him," Jor said watching Kal converse with the amazon general.

"She went to the Bana, Kal-El. I sent guards with her and advised her not to go, but she never listens."

He nodded, "thank you Phillipus. I shall return with her in one piece I hope," he sighed and flew over to the Bana side of Themyscira hoping that Diana didn't do something irrational.

* * *

Artemis folded her arms almost laughing at the young princess, "you know nothing of what the amazons have lived through. You are not even old enough to know what true war is. You're a youngling and an adequate princess at that, and that's being nice."

Diana didn't want this to go any further and she was trying to keep her composure but it was slowly fading the more Artemis was spouting off.

Donna stepped down and ran to the two feuding amazons. "Stop! This has gone far enough. Perhaps we should listen to what the princess has to say?"

Artemis scoffed, "and who are _you_ to me? You're like a clone of her. Your mother should be rid of you and you do not deserve the title of princess either. You're both laughable."

Diana had just about enough of this woman and in her eyes she was not an amazon, but only a poser amazon. She hated her own kind if they did not bend to her rules. She marched forward pushing Donna out of the way and shoved Artemis into the ground about ten feet away from where she was once standing.

The Bana guard came close to Diana and put their spears, pointed ends, towards her throat and the Royal Themysciran guard did the same to the Bana guards.

Artemis stood up spitting out dirt from her mouth and wiping her cut lip. She breathed heavily and saw Diana was surrounded by her guards.

"Will you listen to me now, Artemis?" Diana said, lifting her chin. "Or do I have to do that again?"

Artemis knew that Diana was the champion of the amazons and she would never win if they fought. She was ashamed of herself for admitting that she wasn't the best and in front of her people as well. She relented quite easily, for now.

"Step away from her," she called off her guards surrounding Diana. "I will speak with you, but it will be in front of everybody."

Diana could agree with that, "fair enough," she nodded.

Kal reached the Bana and flew over the gate and amazons below him. He saw Diana and Artemis sitting across from each other in the middle of the palace square. He hoped she hadn't done something irrational, but knowing her, she probably did.

He landed in front of their discussion and Artemis stood up. "How dare you come here! Your kind is not welcomed on this side of the island, _man_!"

He held up his hands, "I come in peace. I am with Princess Diana."

Artemis smirked, "of course you are. I shouldn't be surprised. Your figure isn't really up to par is it, princess?"

Diana's heart sank and then suddenly felt more eyes on her than they were before.

"Look this feud is really none of my business.."

"So stay out of it," Artemis retorted rudely interrupting him.

Kal refused to acknowledge that remark. "We have bigger things to focus on here and I'm sure Diana was getting to that point, but I'm going to make it very short. This witch, Circe, is more than likely causing more havoc in this world than it needs to be. We all need to stick together in case something really awful happens."

All ears were on him now and he heard many whispers in the area. Some of them were not worth repeating, but most were of concern.

"That witch is not a threat to the amazons. She has been gone for centuries now. Why would she just magically appear now?" Artemis wondered.

Diana interceded, "that's why I needed to speak with you. If we could go to my palace and bring whomever you'd like, so we can continue this discussion, that would be wonderful. They also have my mother and those two in a room do not get along well, as I've been told."

Artemis nodded to her guards and stood up. "Only this once I will adhere to your rules, Diana."

"I only need one time."

**AN: so sorry, I've been quite busy as classes have begun again! Homework is a beast, but I couldn't resist writing and hope it doesn't disappoint. Enjoy and give feedback, please! :)**


	31. Chapter 31

Blood Ties

Artemis and her guards entered the palace right behind Diana. She looked around to see nothing has really changed since she was last here, but why should it? Hippolyta doesn't like change, Artemis smirked at the sight of the amazon guards at the entrance.

Diana turned her head to see Artemis snickering behind her. "Are you going to make that face all day?" she asked with a smirk of her own.

The redhead frowned and didn't retort back, deciding it wasn't worth it to fight with Diana. Finally inside the palace she saw what looked to be Kal-El's parents. From the way they were dressed, it was very _alien_ and not very amazon-like at all.

"So, you both are his parents?" Artemis asked with a grin.

Jor and Lara stared at one another then back to the tall slender redheaded amazon.

Lara had answered for the both of them, "yes and you must be Artemis, we've heard so much about you."

Artemis folded her arms, "of course you have. I'm very popular around here, isn't that right princess?" she turned her gaze to Diana who was organizing a table nearby.

Diana raised an eyebrow, "not as popular as you might think, Artemis. We need to discuss what we're going to do with Circe, so please behave yourself and sit down with everyone else," she gestured for the others to sit at the table. Artemis rolled her eyes and sat down at the opposite end of the table of Diana. She gradually put her legs on top of the table, leaning back in her chair.

Kal looked at the amazon, who appeared to be nothing like Diana and thank the gods for that, he thought.

"We should begin now, I don't know how much time we have to come up with a decent plan," Diana said lacing her fingers on the tabletop.

Artemis sighed, "we could just ask the Fates or something, or our oracle, to see where Circe is hiding."

"If it were that easy, Artemis, don't you think I would have already done that?" Diana smiled.

"You got anymore bright ideas, princess? If you did, I suppose you wouldn't have risked your life to come and talk to me, right?" the redhead leaned back further in her chair smiling at Diana.

Kal could feel the tension rising in the room between the two amazon women. He put his hands up for peace, "okay, could we stop with the bickering and actually come up with a valid plan to stop this Circe woman?"

Diana nodded, "he's right, we don't have a lot of time."

"I've got _all_ the time in the world," Artemis said under her breath.

Diana chose to ignore that small comment and continue on with her discussion. For over an hour they spoke about who Circe was and what she was capable of doing to others. Artemis also said something very clever and an important key to Circe and that was she loved to target men, not women, so why the amazons? Diana began to think that this plan had nothing to do with Themyscira at all and Circe was just using Hippolyta to get underneath her skin as always. She had heard that Circe had a feud with Hippolyta for centuries, but couldn't really figure out why she would strike right now and why?

"Maybe she's just pissed off at Hippolyta, not like that's hard to do," Artemis laughed, "but still doesn't explain the Turkey and Greece ambassador thing." She concluded.

"Diana was a target from the moment we got there and yet they didn't even try to take her out the entire time we were there," Kal said.

Diana nodded, "yes that is true, but they have a lot of information on me and Kal both."

Artemis snapped her fingers and smiled, "that's it!"

Everyone in the room startled at this realization that has come to Artemis suddenly.

"What is?" Diana asked, a bit curious to hear what she has to say for herself.

The redhead grinned, "I can't believe you didn't figure it out sooner, Diana, but then again you're not really known for your detective skills." She sighed then continued, "Turkey and Greece are not at war with each other, this is all just Circe's plan. If they were really at war, don't you think they would have destroyed each other already?"

The princess shook her head, "that doesn't make any sense, Artemis. I was there, I saw both of the leaders. They didn't like each other and certainly didn't like me. Besides, this is modern times now and countries don't just go to war anymore, it's very different now."

"You're missing the point. You were the new ambassador and suddenly everyone hates you and someone decides to blow up the embassy?"

The shocked look on Diana's face when Artemis spoke of the bombing at the Greek embassy, surprised her. How could she know about that? She thought she only told her mother.

Artemis smiled at the princess's shocked face. It was great. "Yeah, I have spies in the outside world, princess. Anyway, Circe is just using you and took your _sweet_ mother as bait, hoping to reel you into her trap." She sighed eating some grapes, "I've seen this happen before."

Diana scratched her head, "and this is why you're here. I need your help, we all do. Themyscira needs your help."

The redhead glared at Diana and spit out the seeds of the large grapes, "is that so? I know how to defeat Circe, but I'm not her target, you are, and _why_ would I help you?" she smiled grabbing her dagger from her belt to peel an apple.

The Els looked confused at this amazon woman sitting close to them. She was nothing like Diana is but yet she wants her help to defeat this witch, why? Lara rolled her eyes and looked over to the princess.

"Diana, we're wasting time here. Either she's going to help us or she's going to go back to her tribal ways. Make a choice!" she frowned.

Artemis smiled pointing her dagger at Lara, "I like her. You should keep her," she continued to peel her apple.

Lara raised an eyebrow at the redheaded woman. "I'm not a pet. _Diana_..." she turned to see if she was going to be brave enough to make a decision.

"Go ahead, Diana, make your _choice_. Either way, your mother is still in the hands of the witch. I suppose that's something Circe and I have in common," Artemis smiled.

Diana knew that Artemis liked deals if they benefited her more than the opposing player so she decided to end this once and for all and play the game that Artemis wanted. She smiled staring at the amazon, still peeling the apple with her dagger.

"Lara is right, I should make a decision"

"Finally," Lara said quite audibly.

Diana cleared her throat, "although, it wouldn't be as much fun to just let you go back to your Bana Amazons without a story to tell when Circe is out of the picture, right?"

Artemis frowned, "what are you saying? You're smart, Diana, very smart and I'm not stupid. I don't like you or your mother, but I think you know this." Finally done peeling the apple she took a bite into it.

"And I don't like you either, but we do live on the same land and share amazon values. Anyone who denies that is not a true amazon and I know that you are definitely an amazon." Diana smiled slightly.

"That's right, of course I am. I see the game you're trying to play, Diana, but it's not going to work," she bit into the apple again.

Diana clinched her fists on the table, "then what can I do so you will help us?"

Artemis let out a large grin. "Are you really offering?"

Diana felt that her anger was getting the better of her again but she let it slide. "Yes," she said with a calm voice.

Artemis threw her dagger to the middle of the table, startling the Els as they saw the dagger was stuck in the table a few inches away from their hands on the table.

"I want the Bana taxes to be abolished," she grinned, "and I want Hippolyta to tear down the gate between my people and yours."

Kal sighed, "you don't have to agree with her Diana, she's just trying to get to you, you know this. We don't need her or her people, we can do this by ourselves." He tried to talk to her but it seemed that Diana's eyes were focused on the redheaded amazon.

"Fine," she said through clenched teeth.

"Are you serious?" Kal asked, not believing what was happening right now.

"Also, I want a public apology from your mother," Artemis exclaimed.

Diana raised an eyebrow, "don't push it."

She shrugged, "I had to try. Okay princess I'll help you, but I want those two things to happen after all of this, or else..."

"A deal is a deal, Artemis."

**AN: sorry for the short chapter, but I needed to get something out :) until next time...**


	32. Chapter 32

**AN: I am so sorry I haven't updated this in so long. I got busy with school, then I was studying in a different country. Also this story was giving me really bad writer's block, but I plan to keep updating this story. Unfortunately this story will end soon as the plot is closing in! I was also working on my Xena story, so that kept me busy for awhile. Anyway this is just a small filler chapter until I write the bigger stuff coming up very soon. I just needed to get something out for everyone. Hope it suffices for now! Enjoy :)**

Sisterly Ways

Diana went to her room after the meeting with Artemis, Kal and his parents. It was becoming very stressful to be in her mother's place, she didn't realize that her mother had such a burden upon her when dealing with all these political disputes with the outside world and their own world. There were a lot of people on this island now when you include the male amazons, everyone was becoming very irritated with the lack of space, Diana knew this. She couldn't just let her country and people fall to the hands of a simple witch. Circe needed to be destroyed and she would need all the help she could get, but she wasn't sure if she could fully trust Artemis.

She promised to abolish the Bana taxes and tear down the gate that separated the Bana from the rest of the amazons. Diana knew that her mother would not approve of this, but it had to be done. It had been too long since both sides of the island had rejoiced and joined together again. Far too long. It needed to be done sooner or later she just wished that it were under different circumstances. Diana sat on her bed and wiped the sweat off her brow. This was more than wearing her out and she suddenly started feeling very tired at the moment. Wishing she could take nap, she laid down on her bed, resting her eyes, breathing in slowly and exhaling audibly.

A knock came to the door and her eyes shot open. Immediately becoming annoyed that someone would disturb her she saw the door open and it was just Kal. She sat up on her bed, leaning against the headboard and smiled at his appearance.

Kal came to sit on the edge of the bed and placed a hand upon her thigh. "You must be feeling very overwhelmed right now," he gathered.

Diana nodded, "I didn't realize that my mother did so much. When I get her back home I shall throw her an extravagant party," she smiled softly.

He rubbed her leg for comfort and then scooted closer to her, grabbing her hand, "don't worry we'll get your mother back. My parents are actually going back to Krypton very soon."

She furrowed her eyebrows. She knew that his parents didn't seem to fancy her too much but she was going to miss having them around for any support they offered. "They're leaving so soon? In the middle of _all_ this?" she threw her hands in the air and groaned.

"They have tried to help, but their technology simply isn't equip for finding any magical beings. I suppose that is something Krypton has to work on," he grinned sheepishly, hoping that his small jester would crack a smile on her lips, but it didn't. he cleared his throat and then tightened his grip on her hand. "My mother has to get back to her duties as does my father. They have been here far too long, perhaps we can go to Krypton together once everything is settled here on Themyscira?"

Diana would like that very much and she nodded. "That might be nice to get off this island and not be followed by any witches or crazy politicians," she chuckled. Their world was like no other. Their world had been turned upside down in such a short amount of time. A child, Diana becoming an ambassador, then leaving her position, now back home and currently Queen while her mother is captured by Circe. Also the fact there are so many males on the island is something definitely unheard of, not to mention Donna, her cousin and Aunt Antiope in the picture now. It was all too much to handle at the moment.

Changing the subject Diana folded her arms, letting go of Kal's hand. "Has Artemis devised a plan yet or is she still telling her amazons what I have...promised," she rolled her eyes in disgust at the woman. She really didn't care for Artemis, but everyone knew this to be true, even Kal.

He shook his head, "As far as I know, she hasn't come back to the palace. It's been over an hour. Do you think that Circe is playing more than just a game? Perhaps she wants to destroy your island as well as your people?"

Diana rubbed her chin carefully and frowned, "honestly Kal, I do not know much about the witch as I have never met her before. I wish my mother were here so she could handle all of this."

"I know, but if I must say so, you're doing quite well as Queen right now," he kissed her hand and she smiled in return. She really admired his sweet gestures, especially at a time like this. The world could be burning and crashing down upon them and she wouldn't have cared as long as he were standing right there with her, watching the world burn.

"Have I told you that I love you lately?" Diana said as her grin widened.

Kal suddenly teased and began pretending like he was in deep thought and tapped his chin with his finger, "I do not believe you have, princess." He winked. He knew that she hated being called that and Diana rolled her eyes. "Oh wait sorry, my _Queen_," his further teasing only made her smile widen which was rare for her.

"You are such a comedian, Kal, honestly what am I going to do with you?" she laughed lightly.

"I don't know...what will you do?" he kissed her hand again.

They were interrupted by a knock at the door and Diana kissed his cheek softly, brushing the backside of her hand on his cheek, "later we shall celebrate when this is all over with."

Kal was going to make sure that she kept that promise. Diana got up from the bed and opened the door and saw Lara standing there looking very serious and stoic as ever.

"Lara, what may I help you with?" her tone changing from loving to firm and strong much like a queen.

Lara looked in and saw her son sitting on the bed. Much to her demise, she hoped that she was interrupting something because there was serious business to be talked about, she thought. This was not the time. She pushed the thoughts aside and her eyes were now staring directly into Diana's bright blue eyes.

"Jor and I will be leaving within the hour back to Krypton, although I'm sure...Kal has told you already."

Diana's cheeks flushed a bit and she pushed the door open to invite her in, but she did not budge. "Yes, he did. I'm sorry to see you go so soon."

She smiled curtly, "I'm sure." She sighed, "we shall meet each other again I am sure of it. I hope you get your mother back. I am sorry we cannot stay longer but I must return to my military duties and Jor to his duties as well."

She nodded, "I understand. You have enough to deal with, it's understandable."

Lara glanced over at her son who seemed to be minding his own business while the two women talked. An awkward silence passed between the princess and Kryptonian woman. Then Lara spoke once more, "if you do decide to come to Krypton I want to know immediately so we can...prepare for you. Lastly, I wish that are well."

Diana figured that this was a way the Kryptonian woman was trying to convey emotion and compassion, but it was coming across not so sweet and a bit military-like, but she couldn't really blame Lara. She was not an amazon, she was an alien to her and her emotions were sometimes nonexistent when it came to talking about someone else's feelings, she understood this.

The princess smiled and nodded, "thank you. Kal and I will keep you updated with..." she turned back to look at the Kryptonian prince, still sitting on her bed patiently. "Everything."

Lara smiled, and it was not really a warm smile, but she tried. She was really trying. Diana still annoyed her a little bit and the fact that she was carrying a half Kryptonian child even made her more irate at the amazon princess, but she had to remain calm, especially for her son. She told Jor that she would not lash out anymore, but also when they returned they would have to find some excuse as to why Kal was not traveling back with them. Jor told her that he had a plan, but she had yet to hear it.

"Well, I am going to prepare for my leave, excuse me," she bowed her head slightly and walked down the hallway with her hands behind her back. Diana watched Lara walk down the hall and it looked as if she were floating with her long black slick gown grazing the floor gracefully.

Diana closed the door and put a hand on her hip and faced Kal, who was looking a bit sheepish.

"Your mother is very creepy sometimes, Kal."

He smiled, "I know, she's trying though, can't you tell?" he tried to back up his mother, but it appeared that Diana was having none of it.

She cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow, "that's trying? By the gods I wonder what it will look like when she finally comes into the light," now it was her turn to tease. She was beginning to like doing this to him as he did to her.

* * *

A half hour later the two emerged from Diana's bedroom and went into the throne room and saw Artemis finally made her presence known to everyone else. Antiope was also there as well as Donna, Phillipus and the royal elite guard standing a few feet away from the General.

Kal stepped to the side of Diana keeping his distance very close to her. He eyed the Bana woman and he really didn't like her but he could tell that she didn't care for him either.

Artemis smiled at the Kryptonian, noticing that it was making him rather uncomfortable.

Instead of Diana talking first, Kal spoke first, as the Bana woman was getting on his nerves and all she was doing was standing there and staring intently at him and Diana next to him.

"So have you found a way to get this witch or not, Artemis?" everyone in the room was surprised that he spoke as was Diana. She eyed him and blinked, very shocked at his sudden bluntness.

Artemis smiled, "wow fiesty. You should keep him, Diana. I might like having him around."

Diana folded her arms, "get to the point Artemis. We are on a time schedule here."

The redhead held up her hands in defense and sighed, "no need to be rude, princess. Oh sorry, I mean Queen," she mocked. "I know where Circe is and your mother. She has taken her to Tartarus. That's the only place that Circe could be. She is not allowed on earth's soil, which makes sense as to why we cannot find her anywhere."

Kal looked at Diana and frowned, "did she just say Tartarus? As in the pits of hell?" he questioned, becoming a bit worried now.

Diana touched his arm, "not quite the pits of hell, Kal, but something very similar. So how do we get there and what do we need to do to find her?" she directed her question towards Artemis.

The Bana sighed and rubbed her chin as she stared at the blank table in front of her. "Well, you obviously can't go down there. That'd be too dangerous, although I'm sure we Bana would love to see you try," she smirked.

Kal stepped forward, "I've had quite enough of you. Diana asked for your help and she's been nothing but gracious to you and all you can do is mock her and belittle her title as Queen at the moment. Can we just devise a plan to go to this Tartarus place or not? If you won't help I'll devise the plan myself. I am sure I am far more strategic in planning than you could ever be." He folded his arms, making his stature far more intimidating. Every amazon in the room eyed one another, as the room was completely silent now.

Diana was a bit shocked that Kal would just speak out front like that especially to Artemis, but she supposed that he was tired of her behavior as was she. Inwardly she grinned at this as he defended her in front of her family and friends. Perhaps this was a good thing that Kal was here for all of these Amazonian meetings.

Artemis was a bit taken aback at the man's behavior and outspokenness. She really wanted to kick him in his groin, but that wouldn't solve anything. A part of her was not outraged but impressed and perhaps the princess had chosen a good man for her, something that she thought she'd never admit aloud.

"Alright then...maybe we could work on the plan together...what was your name again?" Artemis asked.

"Kal," he said emotionless and still had his arms folded.

She nodded, "right," she folded her arms copying his stature. "Let's make the plan together. I'll gather my best amazon sisters to help us. Diana will have to sit this one out," she eyed the princess and held her hand up, "you understand don't you?"

Diana didn't abject to this although this didn't mean that she couldn't help with other things. "as long as someone brings my mother back I could care less who goes down to that wretched place. I just want this solved before something terrible happens."

"I agree," Kal added.

"So let us begin then," Artemis turned and left the throne room to go to the study area where Hippolyta kept all the maps. She rubbed her left temple, feeling a headache coming on. It was bad enough that she had to deal with Diana, but now her man? And she had to save Hippolyta? What was this world coming to she thought?

Kal was about to follow until Diana pulled him back by his wrist. He looked at her and her smile lit up his world. He really liked to see her smile, something that wasn't really on the menu lately.

"You didn't have to do that...I mean...with Artemis, she can be.."

"A bitch?" Kal smiled and Diana covered her mouth, blinking slowly staring at the floor and then she grabbed his hand. Their eyes met once more.

"I suppose that's the right word for her. Anyway, just...thank you for that."

He kissed her hand as he did earlier in her bedroom, "I would do anything to protect you especially from hot-headed amazons like her," he joked, although he was dead serious about this.

"I can be worse than her," she admitted.

They started heading toward the study room and Kal wrapped his arm around her, "would I be punished if I agreed with you?"

Diana frowned, "do you want to find out?"

He shook his head, "not really."

"Then I suggest you not say another word, Kryptonian," she jested.


End file.
